Campaigners decry the deforestation of Isabel de Torres

posted on: Mar 17 2010 12:54 by Royston. Viewed 350 times.


The debate over the cause of the damage in Puerto Plata in the floods last month is being kept alive by environmental groups campaigning for the protection of the land around the scientific reserve �Isabel de Torres�.

The allegation is that the development of modern residential communities such as El Doral, La Estancia, Do�a Helena (Cerro Alto), Cerro Mar, Las Caobas and  Torre Alta has contributed to destabilization of the hillside west of the scientific reserve.

Experts in the field, including the Dominican geologist, Osiris de Leon and environmental groups from Cibao, have suggested that the landslides are due to indiscriminate felling of trees and removal of plant materials which causes diversion of rivers and  streams from their natural course.

They complain that the problem with unauthorized construction is continuing at  the South East section of San Marco. They say that the rudimentary housing and the felling of protected species of trees such as mahogany and cedar is destroying the beauty of the mountainside as well as the ecosystem.

Campaigners are angry with what they describe as the �mute� response from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources on this issue. They point to the latest report by the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), which indicates that the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic, has lost since 1995 about 69 million hectares of forest.

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