{"id":2518,"date":"2008-10-13T13:47:42","date_gmt":"2008-10-13T09:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dominicana-online.org\/?p=2518"},"modified":"2018-03-27T20:07:54","modified_gmt":"2018-03-27T20:07:54","slug":"medio-ambiente","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/medio-ambiente\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dominican Republic \u2013 an Environmental Treasure"},"content":{"rendered":"

A multitude of elements make the Dominican Republic a unique country in terms of its environment. From\u00a0the lusciousness of the sands of\u00a0the\u00a0Ban\u00ed\u00a0dunes to\u00a0the\u00a0Pico Duarte, the tallest mountain in the Caribbean, it is impossible to resist the great diversity of landscapes, climates, and ecosystems which\u00a0exist on the island.\u00a0Indeed, being an island entails a high degree of vulnerability for this marvelous territory and the people who live there. Therefore,\u00a0taking charge of its protection and appropriate enjoyment represents\u00a0an act of\u00a0caring for both present and future generations.<\/p>\n

Dominican Republic<\/b>\u00a0in Geographic<\/b>al<\/b>\u00a0Context: the island of Hispaniola and its Environmental Importance<\/b><\/h2>\n

The island of Santo Domingo or Hispaniola is\u00a0a piece of land\u00a0located in the center of the\u00a0Greater\u00a0Antillean islands, between Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. The island is shared between two nations: the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti.<\/p>\n

Hispaniola includes diverse climatic zones with unique biological characteristics.\u00a0This means\u00a0that in a relatively small portion of territory (76,192 km2<\/span>\u00a0to be exact)\u00a0one can find\u00a0species of flora and fauna endemic to temperate, dry, and tropic climates, among others. For this reason\u00a0the island is commonly referred to\u00a0as a \u201ccontinent in miniature\u201d, since\u00a0in its territory\u00a0the\u00a0most highly contrasted and\u00a0varied landscapes in all of the Caribbean\u00a0can be found.\u00a0Its topography is formed by a succession of mountains and valleys, with impressive contrasts in altitude; from\u00a0Pico\u00a0Duarte<\/a>\u00a0(link in Spanish), at a height of 3,098 meters,\u00a0to\u00a0Lake\u00a0Enriquillo<\/a>, located 52 meters below sea level. These unique contrasts give way to highly varied vegetative landscapes, forests, savannahs, and steppes.<\/p>\n

Diverse geological processes formed Hispaniola as we know it today. Millions of years ago, since the second age of the formation of the Earth,\u00a0there\u00a0were\u00a0two\u00a0islands\u00a0which with the passage of time united to form Hispaniola\u2019s mountains, valleys, plains, watersheds, and\u00a0coastal borders.\u00a0This, complemented by conditions of altitude, both dry and humid temperatures, and soil composition, transformed Hispaniola into an island with a high grade of endemicity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Geological formation of Hispaniola. Source: GFDD<\/span><\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

An\u00a0endemic species\u00a0is one which is found in its sole habitat and nowhere else on the planet.\u00a0Because it is an island, endemicity is reinforced in Hispaniola due to the sea, which acts as a barrier to the distribution of species found on the island.<\/p>\n

Hispaniola, a\u00a0<\/b>biodiversity hot<\/b>spot in the International Union for Conservation of Nature<\/b><\/h2>\n

Hispaniola is characterized by having an abundance\u00a0of endemic species, especially\u00a0reptiles and amphibians, and occupies\u00a0second place for endemicity of\u00a0vascular plants in the region, with more than 6,500 species (39% of the total). In the case of birds, endemicity is found in the\u00a0Dulidae<\/i>\u00a0family, which has only one species: the Palmchat (Dulus\u00a0dominicus), the national bird of the Dominican Republic.\u00a0Returning to reptiles,\u00a0the\u00a0Jaragua\u00a0sphaero\u00a0or dwarf gecko (Sphaerodactylus\u00a0ariasae), an endemic species of reptile which is considered to be the smallest in the world,\u00a0inhabits\u00a0the island of\u00a0Alto\u00a0Velo.<\/p>\n

The regions of Hispaniola with the largest number of endemic species (May, 2001) are the\u00a0Baoruco\u00a0Mountain Range, followed by\u00a0Los\u00a0Haitises\u00a0National Park and the\u00a0Ebano\u00a0Verde Scientific Reserve. Other areas with a high index of endemism are the Loma Quita Espuela Scientific Reserve, Jaragua National Park, and the\u00a0Cotubanam\u00e1\u00a0National Park, formerly the National Park of the East.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

(High Endemicity Zones. Source: Atlas of Biodiversity and Natural Resources)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

These and many other ecosystems have been altered by the actions of humankind\u00a0to the point of\u00a0creating a significant threat to the equilibrium of our natural resources and the services they provide to us,\u00a0such as\u00a0water. For this reason, the Caribbean possesses dozens of highly threatened species, such as the\u00a0Hispaniolan\u00a0solenodon\u00a0or\u00a0agouta\u00a0(Solenodon\u00a0paradoxus), the West Indian manatee (Trichechus\u00a0manatus), and the Ridgway\u2019s hawk (Buteo\u00a0ridgwayi).\u00a0It is the Dominican Republic\u2019s intention that with the creation of the National System of Protected Areas (SINAP) the majority of these ecosystems\u00a0will be conserved.<\/p>\n

Indeed,\u00a0environmental\u00a0concerns\u00a0like this\u00a0echo around the world, which is why the\u00a0International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)<\/a>\u00a0has\u00a0classified\u00a0areas in which large quantities of endemic species and\u00a0special and\u00a0vulnerable ecosystems can be easily affected by human activity\u00a0as biodiversity hotspots. To date, 34 such places\u00a0exist around the world, the Caribbean being one of them.<\/p>\n


\n<\/i>(Map of hot-spots classified by\u00a0<\/i>the\u00a0<\/i>IUCN<\/i>. Source: IUCN official website)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

As\u00a0can be\u00a0seen above, the island of Hispaniola falls under this classification. The technical\u00a0compromises required of policies\u00a0when operating under guidelines for conservation and sustainable development are even greater when on the international level our ecosystems and natural resources are valued and declared as relevant not only for those who live on the island of Hispaniola, but also for the inhabitants of the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

It is important to emphasize\u00a0when speaking about the environment that\u00a0nature knows no borders<\/a>\u00a0(link in Spanish), and that\u00a0the\u00a0ecological wealth\u00a0enjoyed by Hispaniola benefits the Dominican Republic as much as the Republic of Haiti, seeing as both\u00a0countries\u00a0share the same island. The environmental policies determined by each countries\u2019 governments\u00a0are what distinguish the quality of the environment in one country\u00a0 as compared to the other, and as can be seen, decisions made in one country can positively or negatively affect the other. It\u00a0is\u00a0therefore the job of\u00a0Dominicans\u00a0everywhere\u00a0to fight\u00a0so that more and more\u00a0neighboring\u00a0governments include best practices and environmental policies in their\u00a0agendas\u00a0that assure the quality and availability of environmental resources\u00a0in their lands.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A multitude of elements make the Dominican Republic a unique country in terms of its environment. From\u00a0the lusciousness of the sands of\u00a0the\u00a0Ban\u00ed\u00a0dunes to\u00a0the\u00a0Pico Duarte, the tallest mountain in the Caribbean, it is impossible to resist the great diversity of landscapes, climates, and ecosystems which\u00a0exist on the island.\u00a0Indeed, being an island entails a high degree of … Continue reading “The Dominican Republic \u2013 an Environmental Treasure”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"page-medioambiente.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2518","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2518"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9874,"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2518\/revisions\/9874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}