Good news surprises.

Very nice! But I'm giggling a little ... its high time that the environmentalists get a break instead of being called dreamers, tree huggers (although I like the name), unintelligent know-nothings, against development, and a few other not so nice names. :laugh:

Some of you may know that I do some web development in my 'spare time' and every single one of my customers are now busy including an environmental focus to their businesses and their sites. Nice! The awareness is growing.

Rocky, thank so much for attending this meeting. Your input and insight was very constructive.

I too was impressed by the quality of people and could feel their energy. I also could share in thier frustration as noted in some of the following notes. I, as a guest living here and from an enviornment of "getting things done", I pressed upon this group that planning and talking is a needed part of the process, but to gain any real momentum/support, they need to prove by action and not just words. This North American thinking, I hope, will take root and we can hope that some action will be implimented. The two parks in Sousa part of this discussion. (But then again, I must learn that I'm not in North America either.)

There are also projects in the works for solar and wind power generation for the North Coast as well as other enviornmental projects. Education is seen as a major key and programs that are now being used can be expanded upon along the way.

This is a good start.

Regards, Ringo

Notes from Mrs. Ringo. (much better then mine.)

The meeting that Rocky references was originally scheduled so that members of the nonprofit environmental group, Somonca, formed to help correct environmental problems in Monte Llano, Sosua and Cabarete, could meet with the Mayor of Maimon, who is also the President for the Dominican Republic of an environmental foundation funded by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called Fundacion Boliveriano. Also, Garry Kooy is now the director of Environmental Services for the City of Sosua, and it appears that the Mayor of Sosua wants to prevent some of the environmental damage that is being done here, more specifically the deforestation of the area. According to Garry, the Mayor is concerned that in a couple of years, at the rate we are going, all the trees will be gone.

Both the City of Sosua and Somonca are hoping that the Fundacion Boliveriano can contribute some funding so that a nursery can be established here in Sosua, both to grow plants to beautify the city, but also to replace the trees that have been taken down. We are hoping that this meeting can be rescheduled soon to continue to pursue these efforts.

Also present was the Director of Environmental Services for Puerto Plata, Juancho, who is a wonderful man that really wants to make a difference, but is struggling with many of the same issues that we keep hearing about elsewhere in the country. The City of Puerto Plata operates on RD$50 million per month, but no funding is going to Juancho's efforts. He is paying for his own gasoline and everything, and is getting very frustrated with the politics.

Milo, the number three man in Edenorte in the country and President of Somonca, and his colleague Marino, were also there. As Rocky says, these are all very impressive people who truly want to make a difference for this area and for the Dominican Republic. Change will take time, but it is encouraging to see this quality of people involved, and hopefully they will be able to begin a process of change that can affect the entire country.

Garry will be taking an inventory in the Sosua area, neighborhood by neighborhood, to establish a baseline on the tree population, and is writing up rules, that will be supported by the Ayunimiento, hopefully, that prohibit cutting of any trees without Garry's permission. Any tree cut would need to be replaced by ten new trees planted somewhere in the area, or the person wanting to cut the trees would need to pay a fine or go to jail, under these proposed rules.

Two other areas he would like to affect are the park near the entrance to the beach, which was basically destroyed when the casino was starting to be built, and the triangle of land in front of Banco Popular, which the City wanted to beautify. In the latter case, they took out what trees were there, instead of working around them. So there is a long way to go, but hopefully some of these efforts will start to begin to make a change that can grow and spread to other parts of the country.

Garry's work is very important, and I hope that some of you will choose to support his efforts. Because he has the support of the city government, has good relationships in other areas of the country due to his past good works, and has worked to establish Somonca, this could be the beginning of a significant change for the environmental situation in the Dominican Republic.

Thanks to all for the great reports. For sure the 'tree' issue in Puerto Plata is swamped in politics - both Parque Central & the roundabout near the baseball stadium. Word has it that the president of the company contracted to provide the new mature palm trees is the husband of one of the city councillors.............

More here:
LLEGO LA HORA

Hi Lambada. Thanks for posting the link to the article. I will pass it onto Garry, who IS working with Jauncho in Puerto Plata. (I will need time to better translate it for myself.)

I also know some of the Kunhardt family....

btw: palm trees are great... but, give limited shade and rate very low in cleaning the air, providing oxygen.

Regards, Ringo

Rocky, Ringo or Garry -- would anyone be willing to write a note (doesn't have to be fancy, and I'd be more than happy to help proof or edit) about this for The Green Team blog? Would love to help get the word out.

Rocky said:

Any suggestions?
Any interest on your part?
I know that Puerto Plata affairs keep you more than busy, but your input would be appreciated.

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They do but thank you! My physical presence anywhere for the next couple of months would be a bit tricky as I'm needing to respond to interest in my book which has come from a group I hadn't expected, educated bi-lingual Dominicans. However, once I've cleared the inbox give me some time to come up with ideas if the old brain is still capable..........
And if I come across articles of interest whilst I'm scouring local papers I'll send them on to you.

A book, Ginny? What about? Well, maybe I shouldn't hijack the thread with this question...

PMed you so as not to hijack thread.

Lambada said:

PMed you so as not to hijack thread.

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Thanks. Just read and replied. Congratulations!

Keith R said:

Thanks. Just read and replied. Congratulations!

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:cheeky: irate: BUY it Keith ......... I need the money to play more golf!! :cheeky::bunny::bunny: ~ Grahame.

Grahame, how about if you buy my waste & recycling policy book? I need the money to help put twins through university in the US! LOL

Keith R :knockedou (dazed at tuition cost calculations after finishing first round of college tours with his twins)

Marco, would love very much to meet with them and toss around ideas, but not sure when I'll next be in the DR. I will probably not return to the DR on personal travel with my family until Xmas at the earliest, and at present no client is forking over money to deal with the DR, so no biz travel either anytime soon. :ermm: Yeah, I think that sucks too! I have a long list of eco-things I want to do in the DR that keeps getting longer by the week, including a revival/transformation of the original Green Team concept. Hard to do all that at such a great distance. Sigh.

Anything in Spanish is not a problem -- not to me, anyway. We would happily print the stuff in Spanish, and I or someone else on the Team can then do an English translation or synopsis (although a bit busy just now to do it, but I'll try to squeeze it in). Just send the digital material to my email, or in case you've misplaced that, to greenteam@dr1.com and it'll get to me.

As for a guest note on the GT blog, well it could contain the basics of those posts you mention, just tied together and cleaned up. And since GT is a blog, it'd be even better if personal impressions, thoughts, musings, observations and questions were included, plus any digital photos you might have either of the meeting, the projects or the key people. [If anyone wants credit or copyright note for the photos, please note which ones and the relevant info -- we always honor such requests.] Visuals always help in blogs!

Any such note & digital photos should be sent to the aforementioned email address.

Then I would promote that blog post every way I know how for as long as I can. Maybe I can't be there personally to lend a hand, but I'll do my best in other ways to marshall support for their efforts.

Rocky said:

Hey Keith,
I knew you couldn't be far away.
Imagine that.. Who would have thought that some serious environmental programs coming out of Sosua, might land up leading the rest of the country into being more eco friendly?
How I would love to hook you guys up together?
I suppose it's just a matter of time before you all do get to meet, and if you're half as impressed as I was, you'll be blown away.

What type of "note" would you like?
Is it more than what I wrote in the first 3 posts of this thread?
I have the whole prospectus here at hand, both in printed and digital computer document form, for the Municipal Green House Project, but, (here comes the tough part) it's written in Spanish.:ermm:

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