The government has announced cuts to the budget of the Ministry of Environment in the 2022 National Budget Bill. Reports are the Ministry of Environment is affected by a lack of funds that has resulted in delays in paying of the forest rangers that are so crucial for the surveillance of the national parks.
The focus is on Sierra de Baoruco National Park after the Listin Diario featured a front-page report on the ongoing deforestation and degradation of the vital national park.
The border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti can be clearly identified from above by the bareness of Haiti and the greenery of the Dominican Republic. Nevertheless, Listin Diario reports that the impressive Sierra de Baoruco, a lush mountain range in the southwest, is hurting big from deforestation. The newspaper explains that brutal depredation by humans is destroying what cost 65 million years to build. The Sierra de Baoruco is defined as vital for human existence and that of other living organisms.
Despite being a protected area, the national park is fast losing its forests and topsoil. Listin Diario reports say that little by little, farming is taking over one of the most biodiverse areas on the island.
The newspaper reports that free passage has been given to entire families from Haiti, who dedicate themselves to prepare the land and to plant, clearing huge forest patches for farming and charcoal making for their subsistence and to sell back in Haiti.
The damage is visible and immense and no vigilance or preventive measures are seen to stop this environmental tragedy, the newspaper denounces. It highlights that large patches of deforested areas are visible on almost all the hills and ridges of the Sierra.
The newspaper explains that the unstoppable exodus of Haitians pushed by their misery and the total ruin that oppresses their country has driven the arrival of more immigrants.
The clearing of forests in the mountains has eroded the soils, an issue that threatens the quality and availability of water for consumption, causes long and intense droughts, and damages the sea’s fishing resources, because the sediment deposits damage the corals and extinguishes marine life.
The Sierra de Baoruco has an extension of 1,000 square kilometers of surface in the provinces of Baoruco, Barahona and Pedernales. It is one of the most valuable in the country, with a variety of forests, from dry to cloud forests, with heights of more than 2,000 meters.
Environment Minister Orlando Jorge Mera responded to the newspaper report saying that Sierra de Baoruco is on the priority list of national parks. He said the Ministry of Environment contemplates actions to be taken to fight the depredation of the Sierra de Baoruco national park given its importance to the environmental diversity and as a source of water for human use.
“In coming days, we will announce the Recovery Plan for the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park,” said Environment Minister Jorge Mera. He said preparations are underway to improve and increase the vehicles used for the surveillance and protection of the area and the number of park rangers.
Jorge Mera explained: “We are also moving forward with plans to improve the park rangers’ mobility system for surveillance work within the area. We hope that, before the end of 2021, these changes can be perceived and felt. Jorge Mera assured that with this plan it will be possible to prevent actions carried out by unscrupulous people that put at risk the integrity of the national park that “for decades has been subjected to neglect and lack of protection.”
He also said that the operational capacity of the forest firefighters has been strengthened with new equipment. He said the Ministry of Environment is drafting the actions that will be implemented as part of the park’s recovery plan, including the two zones where unsustainable agriculture is carried out within the protected areas known as Los Arroyos and Las Mercedes.
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Listin Diario
Listin Diario
6 October 2021