Program Achievements - In Process:

• Integrated Framework for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Economic Growth in the Miches Basin, Dominican Republic
• Biodiversity Surveys and Analyses
• Human Health Analyses
• Built Environment and Energy Use
• Waste Containment via Latrines
• Hydrilla Control
• Water Distribution
• Community Building Workshops
• Teacher Training Project
• Renewable Energy Exploration

Integrated Framework for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Economic Growth in the Miches Basin, Dominican Republic

The Integrated Framework will provide a flexible, transparent, dynamic, and open program for facilitating and managing long-term economic growth in the Municipality of Miches. As economic, environmental, and social conditions change, the Integrated Framework will be flexible enough to incorporate changing conditions. With respect to economic growth, the Framework encourages business opportunity assessments consistent with available financial, environmental, and social capabilities. The Framework discusses how stakeholders can strategize improving economic, environmental, and social capacities. In relation to the environment, the Framework discusses how clear performance standards can be developed to precisely monitor ongoing compliance. The Framework will describe and propose methods for providing strong incentives to encourage environmental compliance. The Framework will provide for a process for an ongoing assessment of the health, education, and economic well being of the local population and its ability to support proposed economic growth and environmental health. The Integrated Framework is designed to be the basis for a larger, long-term planning process involving all stakeholders in the Municipality of Miches. The Integrated Framework will be complete by July 2008.

For more on Miches, please view The Miches Story Part I and Part II

Biodiversity Surveys and Analyses

In order to assess the progress made in Miches as a product of the ESSEG program, we need to know the baseline conditions prior to the start of the initiative. To do this, we conducted extensive terrestrial biodiversity surveys during 2007. We are now in the analysis phase, analyzing and preparing for publication baseline biodiversity data from 77 terrestrial sites randomly chosen across the Miches watershed. We expect to publish at least 4 technical journal articles and several more general reports. The first reports and articles will be available by July 2008.

Human Health Analyses

To examine the connection between environmental degradation and human health, we explored the relationship between environmental water quality and several baseline human health measures using data collected from 100 homes located across the Municipality of Miches. These data are being analyzed and prepared for publication. This will be completed by July 2008.

Built Environment and Energy Use

This project is an exploration of the relationships between choice of energy used for cooking, women's involvement in the economy, and environmental health using data collected from 100 homes located across the Municipality of Miches. Data analysis and writing is underway and will be completed by July 2008.

Waste Containment via Latrines

Presently, sewage is untreated across the Municipality of Miches, and is uncontained in many of its communities. These conditions have wide-ranging environmental, human health, and economic growth implications. Our pilot project in this area focuses on building simple, effective latrines for one community and measuring their impact on public health and on environmental pollutant levels in conjunction. We are working in conjunction with the Peace Corps, members of the local community, and the private sector. We have already completed several latrines, and will outfit the entire community by late August 2008.

Hydrilla Control

A single invasive freshwater plant has completely filled a freshwater lagoon in Miches, leading to the decimation of the fishing industries on which the economies of three surrounding towns are based. In addition, fish and plant biodiversity has collapsed in the lagoon. We have been working with the local fishermen, the Ministry of the Environment, and international experts on this problem to create a plan to control this invasive plant since March 2007. The consensus among international experts is to use sterile (non-reproductive), highly herbivorous grass carp (a fish) to eliminate the invasive plant, an approach which may not be possible given that the lagoon is a protected area. We are currently also exploring a diversity of other approaches to control the plant with the Ministry of the Environment including the use of shading dyes and salt water introduction. Once we have come to a consensus, we will set up a small, contained test control site for the preferred method. We will then assess whether that preferred method of control works in Laguna Limón, and whether we can expand it to the entire lagoon. We hope to initiate the contained tests by Fall 2008.

Water Distribution

Communities without a reliable source of fresh drinking water have among the highest illness rates in the country. In addition, lack of water access leads to environmental degradation and erosion as people trek through forests to hand carry their needed water. We are working with Engineers Without Borders from the University of South Florida to design and implement a source of water for a community uphill from any reliable water source. Planning and research began in November 07 and implementation will begin in July 2008.

Community Building Workshops

We are trying to build capacity in the community with a series of workshops and public lectures designed to expand their planning capabilities and the profitability of local businesses. These workshops will help to improve and diversify the economy locally, an important component of the ESSEG approach. The Municipality of Miches has historically been isolated geographically and politically leading to a subsistence-based economy. These types of economies often result in significant ecological degradation, as well as an inability to convert natural wealth into human wealth in a sustainable manner. We have offered one workshop on planning in March 2008, and are in the process of crafting others that will teach small business owners to better manage their business. This is an ongoing effort in collaboration with CE-MUJER, the Neighborhood Associations of Miches, and the Peace Corps.

Teacher Training Project

In an effort to improve educational skills training, we are working with the Cisneros Foundation to implement their teaching curriculum among schoolteachers in Miches. This project will train teachers in the use of computers and productivity software such as word processing, spreadsheet programs, and web browsing. These skills will then become a platform for curricular innovation and dissemination. Planning and organizing for this project is already underway and we will begin to train teachers in August 2008.

Renewable Energy Exploration

In an initial effort to explore the possibility for renewable energy in the Municipality of Miches, we explored the possibility of generating Small Hydropower (SHP) during the summer 2007. SHP typically has an energy output range between 1000 kW and 10 MW, is kinetic, grid-connected, and depends on the discharge and head of the water in the system. Small Hydropower Projects are generally run-of-the-river projects, meaning that there is no reservoir created. In other words, SHP projects extract kinetic energy from running water, while large hydro projects exploit dammed water. Unfortunately, we found that this otherwise promising approach is not feasible for Miches because the water discharge rates during the dry season are too low to generate electricity on a meaningful scale. We will continue to explore the possibilities of other renewable energy modalities in Miches in the future.

Projects Under Development

- Small grants project - The community small grants project aims to improve the natural environment across the Municipality of Miches and build capacity among the participating community groups. As such, ESSEG will fund projects with a focus on environmental issues that are affecting Micheros directly and indirectly. Projects will be funded according to their feasibility, quality of organization, expected level of community involvement, estimated number of beneficiaries, intended results for the community, and the potential for sustainable outcomes. This is an ongoing effort that is being developed in collaboration with CE-MUJER, the Neighborhood Associations of Miches, and the Peace Corps. We expect to start developing proposals with communities during summer 2008.

- Marine mammal surveys - We are working with Wildlife Trust, the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, and local NGOs to develop a map of marine mammal presence in the Miches area. Based on this map, we will create a management plan that ensures the health of each marine mammal species and to utilize the presence of marine mammals to strengthen the Miches economy via whale watching (as well as the viewing of manatees and dolphins), and use the information to ensure regional conservation for marine mammal species. The permits for this project were issued in May 2008 and the surveys will begin in July 2008.

- Sewage treatment - We are in the initial phases of developing a project with the Engineers Without Borders chapter at Columbia University that would engineer a solution to sewage treatment in the urban core of Miches. This ambitious project would be among the first of its kind in the Dominican Republic, as rural sewage treatment plants not affiliated with international tourism resorts are exceedingly rare. Planning will likely begin in fall 2008.

- Reforestation plan - Deforestation has been rampant across the higher altitudes of the Miches Watershed largely to facilitate livestock grazing, but the impacts are greatest at the lower elevations due to the additive nature of downstream erosion. Deforestation enables huge amounts of fertile topsoil to be eroded quickly under the heavy seasonal rains, washing sediment, fertilizers, pesticides, and other human-created toxins into the streams and thus out to the coastal coral reefs. Upland deforestation, and riparian deforestation in particular, has thereby led to a host of economic problems affecting most people across the municipality. We expect to begin mapping existing forest by July 08, experimenting with different native tree reforestation schemes in fall 2008, and create a riparian reforestation plan with the Ministry of the Environment by winter 08. We hope to begin implementation of that plan in summer 2009.

- Organic agriculture - Organic agriculture will make food grown in the Municipality of Miches valuable and unique for the region. We have surveyed the farmers in the area and there is a profound interest in developing capacity for organic food production. We are developing connections with several local, national, and international agencies with expertise and interest in bringing organic agriculture to the Bahía de Samaná. We are also discussing a possible partnership with the private sector. We hope to begin this process by summer 2009.

- Training ecotourism guides - Given that tourism is going to form a significant portion of the economy of the Municipality of Miches in the near future, it would be advantageous to equip Micheros with the skills to be higher-level participants in this endeavor. Natural wealth abounds in Miches and the local people know it better than most people. We are therefore designing a training program to help Micheros build upon their already-existing knowledge and to communicate their knowledge of nature to tourists. We hope to begin this process by summer 2009.