Environment, NGOs agree to co-mage key mangroves

Santo Domingo.-  Environment minister Francisco Domínguez on Fri. signed an agreement to jointly manage the Lower Yuna Mangrove National Park (northeast) which aims to protect its biodiversity, education and reforestation activities, recover degraded areas and its aquatic and scenic attractions.

The agreement includes the Sanchez Municipal Council, the Propagas Foundation, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Samaná Bay Conservation and Eco-development Center (CEBSE), and the San Pedro de Macorís Power Company (CESPM).

Present in the activity was CODOPESCA director Milton Ginebra, who warned the fishermen that dragnets are banned.

Domínguez stressed the protected area’s importance, not only because it’s a United Nations site of global importance, according to the Ramsar convention, but also because it’s an estuary for ​​most marine species of Samaná Bay and a bird nesting site.

Moreover, the mangroves protect and recover the coastline and adapt to climate change, as well as filter out the pollutants which enter the bay.