Santo Domingo.- Presidents Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic and Iván Duque of Colombia signed virtually this Tuesday a joint declaration that creates a protected oceanic area for the conservation of the submarine mountain range known as Cresta de Beata in the Caribbean Sea, which which makes the country a model for the Caribbean region, as it is the first nation to come close to complying with the 30×30 Global Initiative, well before 2030.
This area will be called the Orlando Jorge Mera Marine Sanctuary, in honor of the deceased minister, who has been working on this conservation project for months, according to a Palace statement.
Ecological corridors are areas that have the specific function of connecting spaces of great ecosystem importance, to allow the movement of the species that inhabit them, so that their populations are not isolated and a genetic and energetic exchange is allowed.
The signing of the joint declaration between the two governments was carried out virtually, with President Luis Abinader together with the Minister of the Environment of the Dominican Republic, Miguel Ceara Hatton, in the Ambassadors’ Hall of the National Palace, and President Iván Duque and the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Colombia, Carlos Eduardo Correa from the South American country.
Global Goal 30 x 30
The Dominican head of state stated that the idea of massively protecting areas of the planet was consolidated in the AICHI Goals in 2010, during the meeting of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
He argued that the Dominican Republic is generating the enabling conditions for the final declaration, including the evaluation of the biophysical, landscape, socioeconomic and cultural dimensions, for which it has made strategic alliances with international cooperation.
At a global level and under the new framework on biodiversity and the Paris Agreement -said the president- the country assumed as a commitment the initiative “Global Goal 30 x 30”, which he explained is a strategic goal for sustaining life of all species and includes protecting 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030.
The area of our territorial seas is doubled
“Currently, the Dominican Republic has approximately 11% (about 45,000km2) of its maritime spaces under protection. With this decision, we double the area of our territorial seas, which are protected marine spaces, adding 49 thousand square kilometers to those that already exist, an extension similar to the entire territory of the Dominican Republic,” said Abinader.
He also added that, “thus turning our country into a model for the Caribbean region, by being the first country to come close to complying with the 30×30 Global Initiative, well before 2030.”
In President Abinader’s opinion, this area is home to an exceptional biodiversity and concentration of species, including species that sustain fishing production and ecotourism, which he affirmed will form a marine biological corridor with the purpose of guaranteeing the conservation of highly distinctive environments. physical and biological associated with the deep marine system of seamounts of the Cresta de Beata.
“Colombia and the Dominican Republic, through this joint declaration, send a strong message that demonstrates the commitment to climate action of the most biodiverse region in the world. We are acting, it is time for everyone to unite”, declared the head of state at the end of his words.
Agreement marks a milestone
On his side, Duque considered that President Abinader is a ruler with great sensitivity to environmental issues.
He reported that the signing of this agreement, in part, was due to the leadership of President Abinader, since this allowed them to sit down to work on what would be a binational protected area corridor.
“This Cordillera de Beata is an underwater mountain range that has thousands and thousands of species. Today it allows us to say that we are raising it to an unprecedented international status in terms of bilateral agreements,” said Duque.
He also added that both Colombia and the Dominican Republic with the signing of this agreement mark a historic milestone in regional environmental policy and a new step in bilateral relations between the two nations.
In the same way, he called on the environmental leaders of Latin America to join this voice of environmental union “so that science and research allow us to delve deeper through cartographic, geographic, joint biology and analysis of the endemic species of this mountain range”.
