The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Colombia, Carlos Eduardo Correa, will visit the country this Thursday to formalize a cooperation agreement on marine and coastal research with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic. This joint initiative seeks to comply with the regional and international commitments of both countries for the protection of biodiversity and the increase of marine protected areas.
This meeting is being held as a follow-up to the guidelines of the former Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Orlando Jorge Mera, who seeks to meet the 30×30 Goal, for the country to protect 30 percent of marine areas by 2030.
Correa, who will be accompanied by the Colombian Vice-Minister of Environmental Policies and Standardization, Francisco Cruz, will visit the Beata Mountain Range, located between the peninsulas of La Guajira (Colombia) and the Dominican Republic, together with the Vice-Ministers of International Cooperation and Coastal and Marine Resources of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Milagros de Camps and José Ramón Reyes, respectively.
The meeting will identify the technical requirements to develop a research cruise between the two countries and finalize details of the signing of a marine conservation corridor for the study, protection and preservation of aquatic species.
Based on the results of this research cruise, the Dominican Republic seeks to declare a marine protected area in its jurisdictional waters adjacent to the Cordillera Submarina Beata Natural Reserve of the Republic of Colombia, which will allow the country to reach 25% of marine protected areas by 2024.
Juan González Minaya, in charge of the Department of Coastal and Marine Resources Management, will also participate in this meeting. Minister Carlos Eduardo Correa and Francisco Cruz will return to Colombia on Friday 17.
