Environment Ministry Celebrates World Wetlands Day in Laguna Manatí

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources on Sunday kicked off the beginning of “Wetlands Week” with a tour around Laguna Manatí, the nucleus of Wetlands National Park of Ozama in La Victoria.

This effort is of strategic importance, as part of the Green Belt, in order to guarantee the ecological and climatic stability for the Dominican capital city.

The Wetlands of Ozama are the second largest wetlands system in the country after Bajo Yuna. The 47 square-kilometer National Park is one of the most attractive natural sites within Greater Santo Domingo which represents 12% of the national territory. One can get to the wetlands by road from Bayaguana, Monte Plata, La Victoria and San Luis.

Laguna Manatí is the second largest of the three lakes that serve as habitats and refuges for endemic and migratory birds which includes ducks, yaguazas, zaramagullon ducks, grey herons and carraos which gather from November to April. The other two lakes are Flamenca, the largest and the Enea, the smallest.

This effort is of strategic importance, as part of the Green Belt, in order to guarantee the ecological and climatic stability for the Dominican capital city.

The wetlands are strategic ecological reserves due to the wealth of their ecosystems (flora and fauna) necessary for environmental balance. In 2001 the Dominican Republic was seeking membership in the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, which is made up of a group of countries concerned about the situation facing the world’s wetlands.

At the May 2002 Convention, Project Lake Enriquillo was developed. This is the only Wetland on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance in the country which is distinguished by its unique characteristics in the Antilles region. This area has important protected swampy ecosystems and is the only habitat for the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) which remains in the country in its natural state. In addition, the lake is home to populations of native and migratory birds and other endangered species such as iguanas (Cyclura ricordi y C. cornuta) and fresh water turtles.

February 2nd was chosen as World Wetlands Day in commemoration of the signing of the Ramsar Convention for the Protection of Wetlands for the International Action and Cooperation for the Conservation of Flora and Fauna, an intergovernmental treaty signed in the city of Ramsar, Iran in 1971.