Agronomist warns that forests could disappear from national parks

Agronomist Gabriel Valdez Sierra called on Dominican authorities and society to strengthen efforts to protect natural resources, conserve biodiversity and address the decline of plant and animal species.

During the presentation of his book “Natural Resources and Ecology,” Valdez Sierra warned about the degradation of ecosystems worldwide, citing research that estimates nearly 61,000 square kilometers of new desert areas emerge each year as productive land is degraded.

The agronomist also highlighted the loss of fertile soil, deforestation and rising greenhouse gas emissions as major environmental challenges. He said soil is being eroded faster than it can naturally regenerate, while the continued destruction of tropical forests threatens ecosystems and could affect food production and water availability.

Valdez Sierra stressed that increasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases could contribute to higher temperatures and greater pressure on water resources, agriculture and coastal areas.

Focus on protected areas

The book also examines the historical development of the Dominican Republic’s protected-area system, from the creation of national parks in the 1950s—including José Armando Bermúdez and José del Carmen Ramírez national parks—to the evolution of the system through 2020.

It also addresses the Carebios project, which seeks to strengthen the adaptive capacity of ecosystems in the border biosphere reserves shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Valdez Sierra urged greater public awareness of environmental degradation and called for collective action to address the depletion of natural resources.