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The Work
of the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation Offers Key Lessons
As the crow flies Punta Cana is about 1600 miles from New York.
And
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| The
Punta Cana Biodiversity Lab |
compared
to New York it is tiny - fewer people, less wealth, low urbanization.
But the manner in which the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation,
with the support of Grupo Punta Cana, the corporate entity that
owns and operates a large number of businesses in the area,
is combining conservation and tourism is a lesson for all communities,
including New York with its vast expanses of water.
The Ecological Foundation, which was started in 1988 and is
currently headed by Jake Kheel, has been clear in what its mission
is, a mission established with the support of Grupo Punta Cana
and the community it operates in. Its mission is to "protect
and restore the natural resources of the Punta Cana region while
contributing to sustainable development on
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| The
Punta Cana Foundation Greenhouse |
all levels:
locally, regionally and nationally." Indeed, its willingness
to link sustainable economic development with the goals of environmental
protection and conservation has created a climate of co-operation
and support that has not only helped protect Punta Cana but
established safeguards for its future.
The Foundation has made it evident that the preservation of
the environment isn't simply a matter of beauty and aesthetics
but vital to the business and economic interests of the region.
More important by linking many of the conservation issues to
tourism, it is not only drawing attention to the issues but
demonstrating the possible positive results that can accrue.
The strategy is significant for communities such as New York
where the waterfront is playing an important role in urban revitalization
and in the expansion of the city boundaries. Yet in many instances
the ecological issues have generally gone ignored because the
involved groups have not broadened their collaborations to include
all who are affected and tied results to positive measurable
impacts. Clearly businesses have to be partners in helping protect
and preserve the environment but there also has to be the recognition
that often a community's environmental and ecological goals
can be in direct conflict with those of the business community.
At Punta Cana, the Foundation has successfully put together
a strong
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| Harvard
Professor E.O. Wilson |
collaborative
that includes support from Grupo Punta Cana, a consortium of
U.S. and European universities as well as a variety of international
and local environmental organizations. And in having done it
may well have taken the first step in reconciling the conflict
between traditional development and the protection of the environment.
For the Foundation, the Center for Sustainability and Biodiversity
is a central element in its environmental plan. The Center has
become a learning place where researchers and scholars from
some of most renowned universities in the U.S. Europe and Latin
America study. The research reef is vital to tourism not simply
because of beauty and aesthetics but because it is the source
of much of the life around it.
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| A
Hawksbill Turtle |
The Foundation
has also demonstrated that it can achieve a lot more collaboratively.
By working with international environmental groups such as Blue
Flag Certification, an international exclusive voluntary eco-label
for beaches and marinas, and the Audubon International Signature
Program, an environmental education and assistance program created
to help landowners and managers follow sustainable resource
management principles, the Foundation has helped establish standards
that groups are willing to accept and conform to.
On land, the Center recently initiated a mapping project of
Veron, a
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House in Veron |
township
contiguous to the resort where many resort employees live. The
project with the help of researchers from Virginia Tech audited
the services that were available to the residents in the area
as well as the conditions under which they live. The results
will be integrated into a an overall development plan for the
area that is both economically sound and environmentally friendly.
One of the attractions of the Punta Cana resort is its golf
course designed by P.B. Dye., a course that has been planned
with a great deal of environmental sensitivity and consideration
of the ecological impact of golf courses. Together with the
Audubon International Signature Program it is monitoring the
ecological health of the Dye course and also establishing standards
for new Punta Cana courses such as the one being designed by
Tom Fazio.
In listing its strategic objectives the Punta Cana Ecological
Foundation names two significant goals:
· Continue and develop new research and education projects that
serve a greater purpose in the preservation and respect of the
environment
· Maintain an active participation in the definition and implementation
of laws and norms related to the environment in the Dominican
Republic
The Foundation still has a long way to go in fulfilling these
objectives but the strategy it has employed so far is exemplary
and a model for many others.
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