Minister of the Environment Angel Estevez reported that after a recent visit to Pedernales and the highlands of the Sierra de Bahoruco, he issued an order to end slash-and-burn and short-cycle farming in the area and ordered the reforestation of the area. The Ministry did not detail the kind of trees that would be planted as part of the restoration effort. The minister is a strong supporter of avocado tree plantations in the area.
Last week, the Parque Nacional Sierra de Bahoruco has been under the effects of a blazing forest fire that had not been controlled at the end of the week. The provincial director for the Ministry of Environment in Pedernales, Ramon Espinal, told Z101 radio and digital news service reporters that the causes of the fire in the protected mountainous area were not known.
Read more in Spanish:
El Nacional
Z101
Listin Diario
15 April 2019