Environment suspends lumbering on severe drought

Santo Domingo.- The Environment Ministry on Mon. temporarily suspended the felling of trees and transport of wood from plantations and forest management plans nationwide, due to the severe drought across the country.

“It’s imperative and urgent to reinforce the necessary actions to prevent and control the effects that could cause the scarcity of rain, to guarantee compliance with the functions that Law 64-00 assigns to this Ministry as the governing body of the environment and natural resources,” the agency said in a statement.

Bug blight

Environment Ministry resolution 0018/2019 indicates that the cutting and transport of trees is excluded, according to the technical diagnosis that is affected by Ips calligraphus (Pine Bark Borer), “whose extraction and movement is under strict compliance with the provisions of the Resolution: 5/2019 dated January 14, 2019.”

It adds that the measure exempts trees from Acacia magnum plantations used as biomass for power companies.