A coalition of environmentalists is fighting to prevent Spanish company Globalia from building an ecotourism resort bordering Cotubanamá National Park, one of the last remaining patches of pristine lowland rainforest in the Dominican Republic. The battle over the development has even reached the president’s office, raising concerns that tourism revenue is being prioritized over the preservation of an ecosystem crucial to the survival of endangered species and water availability to the region.
“It has been hard to focus on anything else, when you know the bulldozers and a 150-man strong brigade is three minutes away from clear-cutting the forest we are trying to save,” says Yolanda Leon, a biologist and president of the local conservation NGO Grupo Jaragua. The organization has joined forces with 11 others in a coalition devoted to stopping the project.
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/activists-win-reprieve-for-now-for-dominican-coastline-eyed-by-developers/
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