Madre de las Aguas Conservation Area – Dominican Republic Biodiversity Case Study

Fausto Gomez Pezzoti

The Nature Conservancy, Dominican Republic

In recent years, The Nature Conservancy has adopted an approach based on ecological regions, or “ecoregions” of relatively large land areas that reflect nature’s own borders rather than political boundaries, and defines its conservation priorities through the process of ecoregional planning. When the priorities are set and the strategies are developed, TNC takes direct conservation actions as we did in Madre de las Aguas, in the Central Range of Mountain in the Dominican Republic.

The Madre de las Aguas Conservation Area is critical to the well-being of the Dominican Republic’s natural patrimony and economy. The area faces multiple and varied problems that have endangered its biodiversity and ecosystem function. One of the major threats and challenges to the Madre de las Aguas Conservation Area is the illegal logging and lumbering within park forests, and especially slash and burn agriculture.

Through a TNC consistency program of education and promotion of better agricultural practices on Madre de las Aguas’ watersheds to protect nature and alleviate poverty, the rural community of Los Dajaos has achieved an unique goal in changing the slash and burn agriculture practice to do agriculture in nurseries or growing crops in steady places. With this change, not only forest in the area has recovered about 70% in the last 10 years, but the community people has been increasing their income up to 100 time in some cases.