NewsWhore
08-10-2007, 06:30 PM
William Kaschak, of the USAID-backed Environmental Protection Investment Fund (FIPA) has warned that groundwater resources in the Dominican Republic's eastern tourism area are showing signs of stress and increased salinity due to extensive urbanization, tourism developments, and the cultivation of sugar cane for ethanol production, as reported in Hoy. He said that this environmental degradation would have a boomerang effect on tourism, an industry that represents 13% of the country's GDP. Kaschak mentioned that in the eastern region more fresh water is being removed than the environment can naturally replace, resulting in saltwater seepage into the underwater aquifers.
He spoke at the opening of the exhibition of 30 projects promoted by the Fund at Santo Domingo's UNPHU university since 2003.
The FIPA organic farming, eco tourism and renewable energy projects were also sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and the NGO Alliance and developed all around the country at a cost of US$4 million. USAID contributed US$1.4 million towards these projects.
Kaschak spoke on how sustainable development is a continuous process that calls for balancing human needs with environmental conservation and social and economic progress.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
He spoke at the opening of the exhibition of 30 projects promoted by the Fund at Santo Domingo's UNPHU university since 2003.
The FIPA organic farming, eco tourism and renewable energy projects were also sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and the NGO Alliance and developed all around the country at a cost of US$4 million. USAID contributed US$1.4 million towards these projects.
Kaschak spoke on how sustainable development is a continuous process that calls for balancing human needs with environmental conservation and social and economic progress.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)