Environment Ministry Launches the “Atlas of Biodiversity and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic”

Environment Ministry Launches the “Atlas of Biodiversity and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic”
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 12/17/2011

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources launched its “Atlas of Biodiversity and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic” which will serve as a reference for the National Strategy for the Conservation and Use of the Biodiversity and to support policies based on the fourth phase of the National Development Strategy which proposes the sustainable management of the environment and an adequate adaption to climate change.  

The Atlas constitutes a fundamental tool for informed decision-making for institutions and organizations in the environmental, economic and social sectors which interact in the design and implementation of policies and actions for the sustainable development of the country.

The introduction to the Atlas was done by Environment and Natural Resources Minister, Ernesto Reyna Alcántara, who stressed the importance of this publication as an instrument which will make a broad range of pertinent environmental information in a systematic form available to the public on a national scale. He added that the Atlas gives a current and updated view of the biological diversity of the country’s natural resources, their location in the country, their distribution, potential, uses and limitations.

The Atlas constitutes a fundamental tool for informed decision-making for institutions and organizations in the environmental, economic and social sectors which interact in the design and implementation of policies and actions for the sustainable development of the country.

Forty four maps in the Atlas are presented in seven thematic blocks that include the physical and geo-morphological aspects of the country which enables readers to understand their height and current configuration. It also shows the country’s biological biodiversity in the high endemic and protected areas; the water basins and protected water-production areas and elements of climate and resource availability.

Information on natural environmental threats are in one section of the Atlas, making reference to the susceptibility of the country in the face of adverse phenomena such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tectonic movement due to geographical location, geology and topography of the Dominican territory.
The database of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources as well as information and research done in the environmental sector was used as a source for the Atlas.

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources proposes to continue similar work on a regional and local level with the goal of strengthening municipal environmental management, supporting initiatives and actions of community organizations and other institutions that need information on the environment to help make and support their decisions.

Other institutions which collaborated in the Atlas include the National Botanic Garden, the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, the University Seismological Institute, the Military Cartography Institute, the General Directorate of Mining, the National Statistics Office, the National Meteorological Office and the Ministry of Public Works and Communications.