President Leonel Fernandez issued on Friday, 27 January Decree 12-06 that creates the Commission for the Identification and Valuation of Natural Monuments of the Dominican Republic. He appointed the Culture Minister Jose Rafael Lantigua to preside the new government body.
To explain the reason for the new commission, the President expressed that the present government seeks to habilitate and attach value to natural monuments that have scientific, cultural or tourist interest so that these be conserved in optimum conditions for the use and enjoyment, both of the present and future generations. The decree indicates that the preservation and habilitating of these natural monuments will benefit the country and will contribute to an upgrade and diversification of the Dominican tourism product. The members of the commission are the minister of culture and representatives of the ministries of Environment and Tourism, and a representative of the board of the Cueva de las Maravillas, as well as historians Frank Moya Pons (the country’s first minister of environment from 2000-2004), Bernardo Vega, Manuel Garcia Arevalo and Fernando Perez Memen.
The commission is appointed to identify the natural monuments that for their ecological, landscaping or visitor potential may be prepared and opened to intense visitation without affecting their natural conditions.