Environment halts agro, livestock on sensitive highlands

Santo Domingo.- The Environment Ministry on Thursday announceda plan to recover the area of Valle Nuevo including Juan Bautista Pérez Rancier National Park, and issued a 120-day deadline tofarmers and squatters to leave the protected area located around 30 kilometersfrom the highland town of Constanza (central).

Among the measures announced by the “Mother of theWaters" Co- management Council figure the total elimination of all agroactivities, a ban on the introduction of seeds, fertilizers and supplies, aswell as any type of motor vehicle.

Valle Nuevo and adjacent Omar Rancier National Park are thesource of several rivers and streams that flow to the Caribbean and the Atlantic,and power three major hydroelectric dams.