Cotubanamá National Park (formerly National Park of the East) has been admitted to the Protocol for Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife—commonly referred to as the SPAW Protocol. The protocol is part of the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (the Cartagena Convention).
The Ministry of Environment points out that this elevates the protected status of the park. Saona Island, one of the most visited tourism attractions in the entire Caribbean, is located in Cotubanamá Park.
The designation is also a new milestone for conservation efforts in the Dominican Republic and the protection of flora and fauna.
With Cotubanamá, five protected areas fall now under this protocol that calls for the conserving of natural resources and the ecologically sound use and sustainable management of the country’s coastal-marine biodiversity. In addition to Cotubanamá National Park, other parks under SPAW Protocol are the Jaragua National Park, Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, La Caleta Submarine National Park and Los Haitises National Park.
The announcement was made during the 11th Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW COP11) held on 27 July 2021 with the participation of a technical team from the Ministry of Environment. This meeting is part of the 19th Intergovernmental Meeting on the Action Plan of the Caribbean Environment Programme and 16th Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region and its Protocols, organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Cotubanamá National Park is an area of special splendor and natural beauty that covers a territory of 791.9 square kilometers, including Saona Island with its 110 square kilometers of extension and maritime zone.
It covers the provinces of La Altagracia and La Romana. It was declared a protected area in 1975 through Decree No. 1311 and was later included in Environment Law No. 64-00 and Protected Areas Law No. 202-04 in category II of the National Parks. 539 species of plants, 50 of which are endemic to Hispaniola are found within the park.
There are 112 bird species, 8 of which are endemic, including the gull (Larus argentatus), the pelican or gannet (Pelecanus occidentalis), the collared dove (Columba leucocephala), the parrot (Amazona ventralis), the bubi (Sula sula), the earwig (Fregata magnificens) and the owl (Tyto alba).
The Dominican Republic has been a signatory member of the Cartagena Convention since 24 November 1998. The agreement is the only regional environmental treaty that protects key coastal ecosystems, and at the same time promotes regional cooperation and sustainable development, focusing on pollution caused by land-based sources and activities, dumping of waste at sea, seabed activities, air pollution and biodiversity protection.
This agreement is supported by three supplementary protocols in areas such as Oil Spills, Specially Protected Wildlife (SPAW) and Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities (LBS). The SPAW protocol has allowed member countries to exchange experiences that improve their capacities, such as the case of sargassum, where techniques and policies have been shared to solve in a sustainable manner the presence of sargassum on the coasts of Caribbean countries. Also the preservation of corals, the financing of projects for the conservation of species and marine areas, among other points that have favored the preservation of different species and places.
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N Digital
United Nations
2 August 2021