2005 - Record Year for Environment Enforcement

[Keith R]

The DR's Environment Police have graciously agreed to share with the Green Team their enforcement statistics for December 2005 and the Year-End Summary for 2005. We both thank and applaud them for doing so! More departments of the government, including the Environment Ministry, should practice such transparency and accountability! We're hoping they'll agree to give us monthly updates here on the Green Team blog, so stay tuned!

http://www.dr1.com/blogs/entry.php?u...ment&e_id=1363

[For more on the Environment Police and what they are trying to do, click on the link for "Environmental Justice" under the "By Categories" list on the righthand side of the blog.]

[Keith R]

A Green Team blog entry that explains the emphasis in enforcement ops on soils and forestry:

"Why the Enforcement Focus on Soils & Forests?"

including a photo and mpeg animation from NASA that makes the point about deforesation on Hispanola in no uncertain terms!

[Hipocrito Mejia]

I don't want this to come off as a Haiti bashing, but one of the main incentives for the government of DR to see that the situation next door is resolved quickly is the threat that Haitian nationals pose to the forest areas in the provinces that are near the border. It is sad to see how openly Haitian nationals deforest those areas for the sole purpose of making charcoal.

They turned their portion of the island into a dessert, and if the authorities don't step in and start protecting those areas, we're going to end up with exactly the same result; a patch of clear dirt.

[Keith R]

Yes, let's not hijack the thread into Haiti-bashing. It's enough to say that Haiti has not protected its side of the fence, and the DR must, or else their side will soon look just like their neighbor's.

[Hipocrito Mejia]

One thing that surprises me and that I consider a very large problem, but did not see mentioned anywhere in the efforts being made, is the discharge of pollutants (garbage, chemicals) into the waterways. Do you have any info into that effort?

[Keith R]

Sorry, not on enforcement, and suprisingly little on water pollution data. That's one of the things on which we're trying to pry more info from the Environment Ministry. Soon as we succeed, there'll be a blog on it, trust me!