Former director of the National Botanical Gardens Ricardo Garcia is criticizing that builders of high rises and urban projects are forgetting about the importance of having trees in a city. In an interview with Hoy, biologist García says that trees are the primary mechanism for reducing the impact of climate change in cities. He said that large real estate projects in Greater Santo Domingo, Santiago and La Altagracia are not planting trees that would mitigate the high temperatures. On the contrary, the large urban sprawl is eliminating trees.
García regrets that the regulations are not being applied. He said builders eliminate all the trees when this is not necessary in most cases. He said anyone now cuts down a 50 or 60-year old tree and nothing happens.
He said that trees can grow quickly in Greater Santo Domingo due to its ecological conditions. “However, when you look at the urban area and centers such as Naco, Piantini and the Polígono Central, these are disasters in terms of greenery, unlike what is observed in most organized cities in the world where a green space is established for any real estate development,” said Garcia.
He indicates that the city government has issued rather timid regulations and even so there has not been compliance. He said as a result, the green spaces in the city are being considerably reduced giving way to the production of “heat islands,” especially where many buildings are concentrated. The trees had served the purpose of disbursing the heat.
In the case of Santiago, García warns that the situation is even more critical than in Greater Santo Domingo. He said the central park, the botanical garden, the university campuses and other recovered green spaces have contributed to increase the green areas, but these are no where the minimum required by the population of the country’s second-largest city where concrete urban sprawl has eliminated the trees.
Another area that needs attention is the tourist region of the east, he says. He said this area requires tree-lined roads due to the high residential density that has developed in recent years as thousands of people have relocated to work in tourism in that area. “We have to secure this area, which is already hot, and we must achieve a woodland with local species to gain time and ensure that we will have a suitable woodland that will contribute to the environmental quality of these spaces,” he urges.
He stressed the planting of endemic trees on the highways. He said the Samana highway is an example of great greenery with endemic and native species. He said he was part of that effort when he directed the Botanical Gardens.
He states that local governments should establish the plans, and the Ministry of the Environment should monitor developers so that they comply with the mitigation of damages established in the environmental impact studies but that unfortunately in many cases the technicians’ recommendations are not complied with.
“We don’t want large urbanizations without trees and instead with heat islands when we can avoid this situation if the regulations are applied from the beginning,” warned Garcia.
Read more in Spanish:
Hoy
26 October 2022