Country Improves Capacity to Measure Environmental Impact of Disasters

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) gave the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARENA) more than a million pesos worth of portable laboratory equipment to strengthen the country’s capacity to evaluate the impact of weather phenomenon.

The equipment includes sound-wave detectors, GPS, calibration kits, machines to measure water turbulence and air analyzing machines, among others

The acquisition of this technology was part of the Noel and Olga Post-Disaster Recuperation Project being carried the auspices of the UNDP in coordination with SEMARENA. The equipment includes sound-wave detectors, GPS, calibration kits, machines to measure water turbulence and air analyzing machines, among others.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Jaime David Fernández Mirabal and UNDP representative in the DR, Valerie Julliand. They presented the results of an Olga and Noel impact evaluation on the country’s natural resources, which will soon be published.

 “On June 1, the cyclone season begins. With the delivery of this equipment, the country has the capacity to quickly evaluate the environmental impact of a disaster in order to determine what water people can drink and what water they should not drink, where the air is contaminateded and many other things that are important to know in case of a disaster,” said Fernández Mirabal.

The level of damage can be measured by water quality, the management of solid waste, coastal resources and the degradation of soil in the river basins of the Yaque del Sur and Yuna Rivers.

This evaluation will facilitate the identification of financial priorities for the recovery of the environment in the provinces of Duarte and Barahona. There is also a sum of more than 6 million pesos available for municipal community organizations and NGOs to confront the environmental damage provoked by these natural disasters which further ecological degradation and vulnerability in the face of these phenomena.   

As part of this initiative, 15 technical teams from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources were trained to play a leadership role in these types of evaluations and to assist in the event of another such disaster.