Border ProvincesDominican Republic Initiatives
Prominent Marine Resources
The Dominican Republic has it all. From beautiful beaches to protected coral reef structures teeming with life.
Along the North Shore of the Dominican Republic in particular exist a series of barrier reefs that extend from Cap Haitien all the way to the northernmost point of Samaná. Fish and lobster were so abundant at one time that no one went hungry.
Unfortunately overfishing has taken its toll and every catch is closer to aquarium size than table size.
At the same time pelagic fish such as Dorado, King Mackarel and Tuna travel in front of the shore along the deep channels identifying el veril but only very vew fishermen have the ability or know how to actually capture these tremendous resources.
Most fishermen are just simply subsistence fishermen, who prefer to spearfish primarily Cotorra – The parrot fish – which is actually the easiest to kill.
Unfortunately the Parrott fish is one of two organisms that keep the reef alive. The other is the sea urchin. Both eat algae growing on the coral heads and so keep the coral heads alive.
In 1976 Jacques Yves Cousteau determined through analysis that approximately 80 percent of the atmospheric oxygen is produced by the small polyps living in symbiosis with microalgae in the coral heads.
The Yucatan peninsula reefs are the best example what happens when e Parrott fish disappears. 80 percent of the coral reefs in front of the the Mayan Riviera are dead or dying and all intents to resettle Parrott fish have failed so far.
The most pronounced features are found of the shores of Montecristi. The barrier reef structures end with a vertical wall that stretches down to depths of more than 1000 meters. This vertical wall is know as El Veril.
Our affiliate FUNPATRIMAR, using satellite imagery, and current information has determined that numerous sites exist to establish a pelagic fishery with substantial economic potential for all coastal communities.
Over 50 locations for construction of artificial floating islands ‘balsas’ have been identified. Some points are seamounts that reach up from the depth and provide congregation points for Marlin, King Mackerel as well as Dolphin fish and others.
With the assistance of local fishermen some of these points have been verified to be congregation points fishable from the surface without artificial islands.
In addition there are certain points and locals as well as marine structures that are ideal for mareculture projects.
We are in the process of preparing a general call to the pertinent authorities such as Medio Ambiente, CODOPESCA and the Ministry of Tourism before this tremendous wealth resource is lost forever.
In addition the potential for sportfishing, diving and other watersports has far greater economic value that the subsistence fishery that is practiced now.
Land based development in the border provinces
Sustainable Circular Agriculture
There are several climate regions present in the border provinces from everything to almost desert and very arid to wet almost tropical forest.
Unfortunately rather than analyzing and combining potentials the individulistic approchases taken do more harm than good and leave a lot of economic benefits on the table.
One of the most ignored activities are apiculture, medicinals as well as circular zero waste high value acui-agriculture.
This is particularlý true in the Northern Region because of its stable climate and extensive myriad of costal mangroves, ideal for a combination of various agricultural and acuicultural practices and activities depending on locality.
A well functioning apiculture has the ability to augment agricultural productivity en un 30 porcent.
As part of past work completed with the Dirección General de Desarrollo Fronterizo (DGDF) we have worked out sustainability plans for various communities that are struggling with subsistence farming.
Community Infrastructure Development
Wastewater infrastructure and dealing with animal manures asa well as other organic wastes is another topic we worked on for years in association with Dirección General de Desarrollo Fronterizo (DGDF).
Beginning in 2007 we commenced a detailed joint study of the animal manures and other agricultural waste from various sources in the seven border provinces. We also looked at municipal wastewater treatment systems were they existed.
Our technology varies in configuration depending on particular application. We have published several papers which you can find in our presentations/publications section.
One document which stands out is our publication on bionomic processing of municipal wastewater.
The English version can be accessed here and the Spanish version can be downloaded here.
In both cases, agriculture as well as municipal we have two objectives:
- dealing with environmental pollution that spans from pathogens to voiding greenhouse gas emissions and watertable contamination.
- capturing full resource potentials with economic value for financial gain so that the investment can be banked as well as successfully maintained.
We are actively looking for partners to help these communities in need.
