SOS Ambiente, a civic society environmental non-profit, has taken the Ministry of Environment and new Environment Minister Angel Estevez to court for lack of compliance of the Plan for Action for the Rescue of the Valle Nuevo National Park. The legal action was taken after on 2 July 2018, Estevez met with farmers in San Jose de Ocoa mountain area, and encouraged these to continue farming, switching their short harvest time crops to avocado and coffee planting. “This action would be unconstitutional since it violates the provisions of the Sectoral Law on Protected Areas,” said Sing. He explained the action would endangers the irrigation of thousands of productive land tasks and the flow of water to dams that contribute significantly to the national energy system.
The Plan for Action for the Rescue of the Valle Nuevo National Park was orchestrated and implemented during the past administration of Francisco Domínguez Brito. It calls for the end to farming in the protected mountain areas of Las Espinas, La Nuez and La Ciénaga al Medio.
Environmentalist Ariel Sing told Diario Libre that Estevez needs to respect the advances of the plan that seeks to increase the water availability. He said the protected area is a source of water for seven of every 10 persons living in the country.
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Diario Libre
11 July 2018
