The Dominican Republic will develop, with the support of the Government of South Korea, a project focused on improving the conservation mechanisms of its protected areas in coordination with the communities.
The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MMARN) and the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD) agreed with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) on the “Project for the Advancement of Climate Change Monitoring Capacity in National Parks based on ICT”.
The announcement of the project was made at the MMARN headquarters in a ceremony headed by the Vice Minister of Protected Areas, Federico Franco; the Vice Minister of International Cooperation of the MEPyD, Olaya Dotel, and the country director of Koica, Joonsung Park.
Franco emphasized that “what we have today as a project is really the context of a territorial survey: to get to know the people better”. He said that the project will define the type of training that the country requires to create awareness in the communities, with the objective that their men and women become actors in environmental protection and awaken their inner guardian.
Meanwhile, the MEPyD’s Deputy Minister of International Cooperation, Olaya Dotel, stressed that “given the importance of this issue, the Dominican State, as a small island developing state, has prioritized political actions related to climate”.
Dotel recalled the country’s commitments established in the National Development Strategy and international agreements. “Likewise, the National Multi-year Public Sector Plan and the National Multi-year Non-Reimbursable International Cooperation Plan are the demonstration that for this government, development must be sustainable,” he said.
He pointed out that within the framework of international cooperation, the country participates in 86 programs and projects for climate change management, with non-reimbursable support that exceeds 400 million pesos.
Joonsung Park, country director of Koica, acknowledged the Dominican Government’s efforts aimed at building resilience to the effects of climate change. “I understand that this project is aligned with this objective and although our collaboration is not very significant we expect it to be of importance.” The initiative will promote awareness of the communities surrounding the protected areas, establish an integrated climate change monitoring system in the Valle Nuevo and Cotubanamá national parks.
Koica will provide non-reimbursable cooperation of up to USD 6,000,000, while the Dominican Government will provide the necessary counterpart for the project. This ambitious project reflects the commitment of both nations in the fight against climate change and the preservation of their national parks, while marking an important milestone in international cooperation in this field.
Source: presidencia.gov.do
