María Isabel Oviedo 2017-5521

Environmental crisis in Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic has environmental problems in the areas of deforestation,
water supply, and soil erosion, and as the eroding soil enters the sea, it damages the
nation's coral reefs as well. The cutting of trees was prohibited in 1967 to remedy the
ill effects of the illegal commercialization of producers and farmers, also the
destruction by fire of large stands of timber. Many species have lost their habitat and
face the possibility of extinction.
This year the country has been the focus of several news outlets because of the mass
of garbage that appeared on the beaches of Santo Domingo. This news travelled all
over the world and put Dom. Rep. in the eye of a lot public figures and social media
influencers, they reblogged the videos of the pile of garbage floating on the beaches
and criticized the country policies in climate change and pollution. The government
deployed hundreds of city workers with help from volunteers to tackle the ecological
mess. Even though the clean-up team worked hard to remove 60 tons of garbage, the
thick mass of trash accumulating offshore and on the beach seems unbreakable.
The floating mountains of trash are products of a storm that passed by, but the mess
shows an up close and uncomfortable truth about the relationship between garbage,
the environment, and developing nations. Additionally some species are in the process
of extinction due to the invasive species that are transported by human actions to
places where they were previously not naturally present. On the other hand, people
frequently set fires, intentionally or accidentally, thereby altering the structure and
composition of forest vegetation. As a result, there are uncontrollable wildfires of
unimaginable scales that burn thousands of hectares of tropical rainforests. The
Dominican Republic is one of the countries that suffer greatly from the impacts caused
by these forest fires. The majority of fires are ignited intentionally for agricultural and
livestock purposes, during the driest months of the year.
It is crucial that the people pay close attention to the management of these forest
fires, in a coherent and integrated manner, with an approach that is mindful of the
ecosystem. And in this context, it is important to discuss the approach taken to
integrated forest fire management, as it goes far beyond conventional strategies for
preventing and extinguishing fires and includes planned actions such as controlled or
prescribed burns, community participation, and the enforcement of laws. The
challenge now is to implement these promising techniques, to manage, in an
integrated and successful manner, the numerous fires that threaten the biodiversity of
the Dominican forests. We must do everything possible to reduce the waste
production, by recycling and reusing materials, will be one of the key strategies in
reducing the levels of environmental pollution in the decades to come. In this regard, it
will be essential to raise public awareness through early education and participative
campaigns at the community and corporate levels.
 María Isabel Oviedo 2017-5521

Furthermore, given that everything starts with the population's interest in seeking
solutions to environmental problems, in a constructive and collective manner, the
society must stick together to face the many environmental challenges that lie ahead.