The Executive Branch enacted Law 40-23, by which it declared San Cristóbal as an ecotourism province.
Said Law provides that each year, the province will have a budget established in the General Budget Law and which according to Senator Franklin Rodriguez, is expected to be DR$60 million, money that will be managed by the Ecotourism Development Council established in the enacted Law.
Law 40-23 was enacted among other considerations, because San Cristóbal has optimal environmental conditions, having a diversity of ecosystems of great value for the conservation and preservation of biodiversity, in addition to having vast natural resources and a diverse ecosystem for tourism development in coastal areas, rivers, mountains, streams, springs and dams.
The Law also highlights that San Cristóbal has a valuable historical heritage, favorable for archaeological and cultural tourism, including the Don Diego Caballero sugar mill in San Gregario de Nigua (colonial sugar mills route); prehistoric paintings and cave engravings in the El Pomier caves; the Casa de Caoba (Mahogany House); the frescoes inside the church of San Cristóbal; and the frescos in the interior of the church of San Cristóbal; the frescoes inside the Nuestra Señora de la Consolación church by Spanish artist José Vela Zanetti; the Piedras Vivas park; the La Toma spa; Las Barias; the Count of Mana caves in Yaguate; the Nigua ecological park; the caves in Las Coles in Cambita Garabitos; the Resolí Fort; El Casino; Castillo del Cerro; among other attractions.
The declaration of San Cristóbal as an ecotourism province is justified according to the Law, because it is necessary to promote decent and sustainable sources of employment, through the promotion of the orange and ecological economy, for the benefit of the citizens of San Cristóbal, stimulating in turn the private initiative through the creation of new MSMEs oriented to the tourism sector of the province.
The objective of this Law is to promote the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and the promotion of cultural manifestations, for the benefit of the economic and social development of the province, by declaring the province of San Cristóbal as an ecotourism province.
The Council of Ecotourism Development of the province will be integrated by the Minister of Tourism, who presides it and in his absence a vice minister designated for such purposes; the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources or his representative; the Minister of Culture or his representative; the Civil Governor of the province or his representative; a mayor chosen in consensus by the mayors of the municipalities that make up the province of San Cristóbal; a representative of the tourism and ecotourism projects of the province; a representative of the ecological organizations of the province and the executive director who serves as secretary with voice but without vote.
Source: Elnuevodiario.com
