Mangroves of Miches. Photo inagotable.com
SANTO DOMINGO. - Dominican Republic ranks 33rd among almost 180 countries that have improved their environmental quality, and 77th among the 177 nations that have advanced in economic, political and social indicators, said the magazine Foreign Policy.
The information was provided by Cabinet-level minister Angel Lockward, who said the country’s political, economic and social stability is valued at the international levels. He also stressed the country’s environmental efficiency index, which placed 33rd with 83 points in hydrographic protection and ecosystem conservation.
The magazine Newsweek in Spanish also highlights Haiti’s last place for the lack of protection of its environment, habitat and water.
The publication cites Costa Rica as an example of developing all its tourism based on ecological tourism, and says Dominican Republic has yet to start exploiting that area.
Lockward said only Costa Rica, Colombia, Canada, Ecuador and Chile surpassed the country in the environmental protection rating.
From: United States, Port Washington, LI (New York)
Haiti in the last place?????
Can't believe it
From: United States
Haiti was doing great .. up until yesterday .. before this report emerged .. could there be some kind of conspiracy?
From: United States
Senor Colon
Personally, no one knows. All I know, i personally went to haiti a couple of weeks ago, and definitely saw improvements. But then again, it all depends what they are measuring. Haiti doesn't have rangers, but I saw a lot of replanting of trees and so forth in the mountains. No matter what is said and done, its better to see for yourself and make your assessment. With few good roads, I can only ask how they managed to study all of haiti which is pretty mountainous. or was it a person, just taking a picture across a small mountain, and forgot to look at what lies behind that mountain.
From: Dominican Republic
Definitely they understand and measure environmental quality (flora/fauna/water/air/geology)better than your one visit, to a very local place in Haiti! Live with it! Haiti is an environmental disaster induced by disastrous human behavior and lack of vision!
From: United States
Human Behavior? I knew it all along.
From: Spain, Ibiza, Minorca, Mallorca
I rarely venture outside of the Capital (I'm originally from Villa Juana, Villa Francisca), maybe to Higuey where my maternal fam is from. But, the last time I looked at el Rio Ozama, it was stagnant. I remember that it flowed smoothly, before. Not when I crossed it the last time. It was almost non- existent. I remember ships used to travel up the river, as far as I was concerned: parallel to la Cementera Colon en la Maximo Gomez.
What happened to the river? I miss the mighty Ozama.
About Haiti: Too many people, population keeps growing unchecked, not enough arable land, over fishing of the rivers,streams, and coasts, shrubs and trees are burnt to make charcoal.
So, what do you think happens when all these factors are combined? An ecological disaster!
From: United States
The "Mighty Ozama" is now one big ecological disaster .. everybody and their uncle has been pouring their garbage into it .. including sewage .. when it rains the Mighty Ozama receives non-point storm runoff from Metropolitan Santo Domingo .. storm drains laden with phosphorous and nitrogen pour their share of urban waste into the Ozama .. plankton and aquatic plants are thriving and have sucked out almost all the biochemical oxygen from it's sediment laden waters .. EUTROPHICATION it is called .. high BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD5) .. anaerobic respiration in an oxygen deficient body of water produces large quantities of HYDROGEN SULFIDE .. the SUFFOCATING, NOXIOUS and NAUSEATING ODOR that rises up from it's depths .. reaching all the way up to the BRIDGES. The smell of DEATH. The death of a mighty river. The MIGHTY OZAMA.
From: United States
The MIGHTY OZAMA has now joined the ranks of many others in the same class of polluted rivers .. THE MIGHTY GANGES .. THE MIGHTY YANGTZE .. THE MIGHTY MEKONG .. THE MIGHTY IRRAWADI .. can it be REVERSED? .. si .. THE THAMES .. THE HUDSON .. THE MISSISSIPI .. THE RHINE have been "CLEANED" .. but it takes a lot of MONEY .. a lot of DETERMINATION .. DETAILED STUDIES .. more MONEY .. ENFORCEABLE LAWS .. more MONEY .. PUBLIC EDUCATION .. more MONEY .. but it can be "FIXED".
Written by: anthonyC, 14 Aug 2008 10:25 AM
From: United States
Goully,
You asked the wrong question. We all know it can be fixed. The real question is will it?
From: United States
You can "smell" the answer for yourself. That river was a mess as far back as1999 but at least the stench was limited to the areas immediately by the banks. TODAY you can smell it with your car windows rolled up when driving across the Padre Castellano Bridge.
Written by: anthonyC, 14 Aug 2008 11:50 AM
From: United States
1999?
That river has been a mess since the 70's
Written by: Lautaro, 14 Aug 2008 12:26 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
The saddest thing is that the Yaque del Norte, the most important river in the country, is going through a similar process unchecked.
From: United States
It may have been messed up in the 70s as well .. I guess you were around back then to smell the horrible stench .. LUCKY YOU .. but I was not there to smell it until 1999 .. same thing happening all over the world .. rivers are like a big "basura" .. a cheap one too .. just dump and forget .. let others downstream deal with the stench .. eventually it all ends up in the ocean and create massive "hypoxic dead zones" that destroy coral reefs .. shrimp fisheries .. and yes .. TOURISM.
Written by: Chuco, 14 Aug 2008 10:36 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Mata Grande San Jose De La Mata
Dose anybody know RIO BAO
From: United States
What exactly about the Rio Bao are we supposed to know? It's location? Velocity? Discharge? Flood Stage? Hydrograph? Salinity? Alkalinity? Electrical Conductivity? Dissolved Solids? Sediment Load?
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Can't believe it
Personally, no one knows. All I know, i personally went to haiti a couple of weeks ago, and definitely saw improvements. But then again, it all depends what they are measuring. Haiti doesn't have rangers, but I saw a lot of replanting of trees and so forth in the mountains. No matter what is said and done, its better to see for yourself and make your assessment. With few good roads, I can only ask how they managed to study all of haiti which is pretty mountainous. or was it a person, just taking a picture across a small mountain, and forgot to look at what lies behind that mountain.
What happened to the river? I miss the mighty Ozama.
About Haiti: Too many people, population keeps growing unchecked, not enough arable land, over fishing of the rivers,streams, and coasts, shrubs and trees are burnt to make charcoal.
So, what do you think happens when all these factors are combined? An ecological disaster!
You asked the wrong question. We all know it can be fixed. The real question is will it?
That river has been a mess since the 70's