Miches, Dominican Republic - What started as a singular effort by a team from Columbia University to establish measures to conserve natural assets in the zone of Miches, today gathers force with representatives from local, national and international technical institutions, and experts with a long track record in development and conservation.

In addition to Columbia University, the third gathering, first of the year, took place with the support of the Diving Academy, Tropicalia Foundation, Miches Office of the Mayor, Agroindustrias Carlyle Sees SA, Fondesa, Dominican Sustainable Tourism Alliance, USAID, Environment Ministry and Rancho Laguna Limon.

The Work Group for a Sustainable Samana Bay identified high-priority goals to reach, including the design of a solid waste program, a territorial master plan and tourism development under a unified vision.

Among the speakers were Environment minister Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal, representatives from the USAID, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and from the Puerto Plata tourism cluster associations.