Dominican Tourism

Santo Domingo.– The Dominican Ministry of Environment signed an agreement with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the German Construction Bank (KFW) to create a US$10 million fund, which will be administered by the National Protected Areas System (SINAP).

The organizations will provide US$6.5 million for the fund, while the Dominican government will provide the remaining US$3.5 million. Environment Minister Omar Ramirez said that this represents an improvement in the sustainability of the nation’s ecosystem and development.

According to TNC representative William Welter, the agreement shows the reach of inter-organizational and international cooperation. The SINAP includes 86 sites and covers 11,500 kilometers, or 24% of Dominican territory.

BANÍ, Dominican Republic. – Yesterday’s hearing against the mayor, five councilpersons and the City Council president, together with the company Ciramar executives charged in the case of the Bani Dunes, became a political rally, which forced the Instruction judge to transfer the trial to the San Cristóbal Appellate Court, which will evaluate the refusal of the original judge to hear the case and appoint a new one.

Since early morning Monday angry groups of opposition PRD party members and City Council employees occupied the Courthouse’s outers areas, hallways and the chambers where the case was to be heard, chanting support for the mayor Nelson Camilo, and against the government, leading the prosecution to seek a recess of the hearing on grounds of safety. (more…)

PEDERNALES, Dominican Republic.- The otherwise best-kept secret of the Dominican Republic yearns to become a household word, as its 89 kilometers of beaches with barely 200 basic hotel rooms makes the Pedernales peninsula a most attractive region for investors seeking future potential and for adventurers after the unspoiled.

“No high-density tourism for us,” says the ex senator Antonio Feliz Perez (Toño), who as president of the Provincial Tourism Promotion and Development Association has a vested interest in making sure this jewel in the Dominican southwest doesn’t go the way of the country’s north and east coasts, where the ‘all-inclusive’ reigns. (more…)