Santo Domingo.- The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCyT) has allocated RD$68.8 million to support nine research projects by various universities and research centers aimed at combating the sargassum phenomenon that has been affecting Dominican coasts and various Caribbean tourist destinations over the past five years.
Dr. Franklin García Fermín, head of MESCyT, reported that this investment has resulted in 16 scientific publications in indexed journals and three patent applications, one of which is currently in use by Dominican industry.
The funding, provided through the National Fund for Scientific Development and Technological Innovation (Fondocyt), supports the efforts of President Luis Abinader’s government to address the challenges posed by climate change for the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean islands.
“The projects financed by Fondocyt to mitigate the impact of sargassum cover areas such as basic sciences, monitoring and predicting algae influx on the coasts, taxonomic and physicochemical characterization, and geomorphic changes. They also address the effects of climate change and human activities on the beaches,” he said.
He added that the development of products and processes based on sargassum, such as soil fertility enhancers, activated carbon, bioplastic, construction materials, paper, and biocomposites for pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, has also been supported.
Dr. García Fermín highlighted that in the past five years, Dominican research has focused on generating biofuels from sargassum, successfully producing bioethanol and biogas.