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Dominican Republic
"We would like to express our appreciation of the Foundation for Environmental Security and Sustainability (FESS) for its significant contribution to elevating the levels of knowledge and awareness about environmental security in the Dominican Republic.
The study "Environmental Security in the Dominican Republic: Promise or Peril," as well as the discussion activities on the findings of that research, have played a fundamental role because they have clearly highlighted the important interconnection between the cohesion and security of our society with sustainability and the use of natural resources.
We believe that the holding of the Environmental Security Summit that took place last February 1 has been of particular relevance and has pointed out the need to integrate the topic of environmental security in the design of public policy and decision making in the Dominican Republic…
The signing, during the Environmental Security Summit, of a document of institutional commitments among three departments of government, as well as by the Chamber of Deputies, with the end of strengthening environmental security in our country, constitutes a milestone in the Dominican environmental agenda."
Dr. Max Puig
Secretary of State of the Environment
Dominican Republic
Environmental Security in the Dominican Republic: Promise or Peril?
In early 2005, FESS completed its second pilot ESAF study, which consisted of an assessment of the status and future of environmental security and sustainability in the Dominican Republic. Field research was conducted during four trips to areas of special environmental concern, including the national capital of Santo Domingo; the second largest urban area, Santiago; the border region with Haiti in the northwest; and the Punta Cana/Bávaro tourist concentration in the east.
Findings from the study identified seven areas of concern in relation to environmental security. Five of these involved problems associated with institutional weakness: environmental governance; electricity provision; natural hazards; land use planning and management; and unsustainable practices in agriculture and tourism. Two additional issues are related to deep-seated economic, social, and political realities in the country: Dominican-Haitian tensions and the reciprocal relationship between poverty and environmental degradation.
Based on these environmental security challenges, the report projects three future scenarios for the country, reflecting possibilities of continuity, improvement, or decline. With special attention to the tourism sector, a set of recommendations to the United States Government, the Government of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican private sector, and Dominican civil society provide policy options for constructing a more stable and sustainable future.
Presentation and Discussion of "Environmental Security in the Dominican Republic:
Promise or Peril?"
On August 1, 2006 in Santo Domingo, FESS presented its study analyzing the status and future of environmental security in the Dominican Republic ("Promise or Peril: Environmental Security in the Dominican Republic?"). More than three dozen government, business, academic, and civil society representatives attended the event and participated in a discussion that confirmed the accuracy and timeliness of the report and established the need to seek implementation of the findings.
The event began with FESS Director of Research and Studies Jeffrey Stark discussing the conceptual framework and methodology of the study. FESS Associate Director of Research and Studies Max J. Castro followed by presenting the study's main findings. Three prominent Dominicans provided expert commentary on the implications of the research. Servio Tulio Castaños, executive director of the Foundation for Justice and Institutionalism (FINJUS), spoke on the legal framework and the implications for democracy and institutionalization. Olga Luciano López, former director of planning in the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, discussed implications for environmental management. José Oviedo, Ph.D., a sociologist and expert on public management, commented on the political and social implications.
At the end of a lively discussion that followed the formal presentations, participants suggested several follow-up activities, most important among them the convening of an Environmental Security Summit bringing together top-level policymakers and key stakeholders. An agenda for the event is available in English and Spanish. A brief Spanish-language description of the study and a Spanish-language press release describing the event can be found by clicking on the links below:
Summit on Environmental Security in the Dominican Republic
To begin the challenge of implementing the ESAF study findings, FESS convened the Environmental Security Summit in the Dominican Republic. FESS envisioned this event as one in which Dominican partners would play a significant role in designing, planning, and conducting the event. With the help of José Oviedo, a prominent Dominican sociologist, a working group was formed in September 2006, including the Fundación de Institucionalidad y Justicia (FINJUS), the Centro Universitario de Estudios Políticos y Sociales (CUEPS) of the Pontificia Universidad Madre y Maestra, and the Santo Domingo branch of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Public Health, and Tourism also were invited and agreed to participate in the drafting of a set of commitments to be presented at the Summit. The President of the Chamber of Deputies also pledged the enthusiastic support of that body as well as his active participation and that of members of the Chamber's Environmental Commission.
More than 40 representatives from civil society, the Dominican government, the private sector, and the U.S. government attended the Summit held in Santo Domingo on February 1, 2007. The Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources, Tourism, and Public Health, and the President of the Chamber of Deputies reviewed and signed a seven-page Commitments Document containing a set of concrete actions to improve environmental security by specified dates.
As stated in the Commitments Document, Summit participants recognized that "environmental security is part of the future… [and] the viability of a society." They agreed that "the findings of the [FESS] research confront us with our future as a nation, showing us a set of dramatic risks that we must understand as challenges to overcome through the effective promotion of environmental security as a priority…." In addition, they asserted the necessity of defining "a National Environmental Agenda that becomes a commitment of all to this generation and future generations of Dominicans."
The individual commitments contained in the document reflected many of the key concerns raised in FESS's environmental security assessment, including the need to address specific institutional weaknesses, complete the environmental legal framework, improve interagency coordination in relation to natural resource and environmental management, formulate a national land use plan, and undertake a strategic environmental evaluation of the tourism sector. The specific commitments that were agreed to include:
- Strengthening the implementation of the General Law of the Environment and Natural Resources.
- Establishing regional environmental management offices.
- Strengthening regulatory capacity to apply environmental quality norms, developing incentives to promote environmental responsibility in the private sector, and increasing citizen environmental awareness.
- Consolidating major institutional capabilities regarding human resources, organization, management, equipment, and measurement.
- Improving the administrative and financial management of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
- Strengthening the environmental security focus of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources by developing a set of indicators to monitor projects and activities.
- Approving a set of laws and norms to improve environmental security in relation to:
- Marine and Coastal Areas
- Forests
- Biodiversity
- Biosecurity
- Solid Wastes
- Water and Sanitation
- Alternative Energy
- Improving interagency cooperation:
- Strategic environmental evaluation of the tourism sector.
- Formulation of a national land use plan to be made official through a law or decree.
- Creation an inter-institutional platform to follow-up on norms for the adequate handling of wastes.
- Development of the General Water Law.
- Development of the General Law for Wastes.
- Enhanced civil society participation.
Participants at the Summit divided into five working groups to review and discuss the commitments. The working groups made a total of 49 specific comments and/or recommendations in response to the original document. During the plenary session, participants agreed that the input of the working groups should be appended to the Commitments Document as an Addendum.
In order to ensure the fulfillment of the commitments agreed to at the Summit and to consider the comments and recommendations contained in the Addendum, participants agreed to establish a committee composed of members from government, civil society, and the private sector that will meet at regular intervals to monitor and evaluate compliance.
A copy of the complete Spanish and English version of the Commitments Document are available by clicking on the links below:
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