STRENGTHENED ENVIRONMENTAL MINISTRY SAYS IT WILL

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001643

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

SAN JOSE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HUB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV KICR ECON EFIS DR
SUBJECT: STRENGTHENED ENVIRONMENTAL MINISTRY SAYS IT WILL
PUT END TO TRADE IN ARTISAN CRAFTS MADE FROM TURTLE SHELLS

REF: 07 SAN JOSE 2834


1. (U) SUMMARY: On October 16, Environmental Minister Jaime
David Fernandez Mirabal issued a warning to artisan craft
merchants that the GODR will begin confiscating items made
from components of endangered marine turtle species on
November 3. The sale of these products has been illegal in
the Dominican Republic since 2000, however the law has not
been enforced until now. In 2007, Humane Society
International (HSI) filed a complaint against the DR with the
Secretariat for Environmental Matters under CAFTA-DR
regarding the sale of turtle products. This crack-down is
one of a series of actions taken by the new Minister since he
came into office in August that appear to signal a strong
commitment to enforcing environmental laws and increasing
environmental protection. END SUMMARY


2. (U) On October 16, Secretary of State of the Environment
and Natural Resources (SEMARENA) Jaime David Fernandez
Mirabal issued a warning to artisan craft merchants that the
GoDR will begin confiscating items made from components of
endangered marine turtle species on November 3. The
confiscations will be carried out by the Ministry,s Office
of Protected Areas and Biodiversity in conjunction with the
Special Prosecutor for the Defense of the Environment and
Natural Resources and the National Environmental Protection
Service (SENPA). The catch, consumption and use of these
animals in crafts has been illegal in the Dominican Republic
since 2000, per the General Environmental Law (Law 64-00) of
2000; nonetheless, the practices have continued with little
abatement since that time. Artisan craft products made from
turtle shells are popular among tourists, even though the
international transport thereof has been prohibited since the
Dominican Republic signed the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 1987.


3. (U) In 2007, HSI filed a complaint under Chapter 17 of
CAFTA-DR against the GoDR for failing to adequately enforce
the Dominican Environmental Law 64-00 as well as Decree
752-01. Article 140 of Law 64-00 establishes that "it is
prohibited to hunt, fish, capture, mistreat, kill, traffic,
import, export, sell, manufacture or produce traditional
handicrafts, as well as exhibit and illegally
possess(species of flora and fauna that are found to be
threatened or endangered by the Government of the Dominican
Republic or any other country in accordance with
international treaties signed by the Dominican Republic."
Decree 752-01, issued in 2001, established a 10-year ban on
the capture, killing, collection of eggs and sale of products
derived from green, hawksbill, loggerhead, and leatherback
turtles.


4. (U) SEMARENA official Rosa Otero told EconOff that she is
confident that the November 3 deadline will be enforced,
noting that Fernandez Mirabal has the political weight and
will to effectively enforce all aspects of Law 64-00. She
said that, while it will be a challenge to completely
eliminate the sale and consumption of endangered turtle
byproducts, preventing the sale of the goods on the open
market will greatly reduce the total sales. Otero noted that
while the HSI complaint under CAFTA-DR likely helped
prioritize the turtle issue, she believes that the
Ministry,s order to cease sale of turtle products would have
come regardless. She also noted that there were "hurt
feelings" in the Office of Protected Areas and Biodiversity,
which handles CITES enforcement, after HSI filed the
complaint before the Secretariat for Environmental Matters.
"If I asked you to help me fix up my house, and you came and
helped me, I wouldn,t like it if you went out and told
everyone that my house is a disaster," she told EconOff.
Otero said that while she viewed the HSI complaint as an
opportunity to gain public support for the Ministry,s
efforts, some in the Office of Protected Areas and
Biodiversity were taken aback by the adversarial nature of
HSI's approach.


5. (SBU) Nonetheless, she assured EconOff that recent
problems that HSI and World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) have
had with scheduling CITES workshops with the Ministry are a
result of reorganization in the Office of Protected Areas and
Biodiversity in the wake of the personnel changes that
followed President Fernandez' reelection, and not a response
to the turtle complaint. She said she was confident the
organizations would be able to hold the workshops by the end
of the year, noting that Undersecretary for Protected Areas
and Biodiversity Eleuterio Martinez "is a true
environmentalist" who cares deeply about CITES and the health
of marine turtle populations.


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"New broom sweeps best"
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6. (U) Fernandez Mirabal,s declaration on turtle sales is
part of a series of measures that indicate the Ministry is
prepared to enforce compliance with the Dominican Republic's
oft-ignored environmental regulations. Since Fernandez
Mirabal took office in August, he has taken on politically
sensitive issues with an uncompromising disposition. On
October 20, the Ministry began to evict mining operators
known locally as "granceras" that extract aggregate
construction materials from lands within 150 meters of
riverbeds, sending heavily armed environmental police
officers to occupy the excavation sites. Although this
decision is simply the enforcement of Resolution 16-07,
issued under former Minister Max Puig in August 2007,
Fernandez Mirabal's unbending insistence to push out the
granceras shows a political will that neither Puig nor his
successor, Omar Ramrez Tejada, who twice postponed
enforcement of the resolution, ever mustered.


7. (U) In addition, Fernandez Mirabal's Ministry bulldozed
two 16-room hotels under construction on Isla Saona, part of
the Del Este National Park, which violated Law 64-00. The
Minister also announced plans to dismantle farmsteads within
the boundaries of the Los Haitises National Park before the
next planting season "whoever the owners may be", Hoy
newspaper reported. On October 19, the Ministry announced it
had confiscated 12 kilometers of barbed-wire fencing in Los
Haitises and seven bags of illegal charcoal. The press has
reported broadly on the Ministry,s recent actions. The
granceras drama dominated the front page for close to one
week. For the most part, press reaction has favored
Fernandez Mirabal,s actions; El Caribe lauded him by
referring to the Spanish saying, "New broom sweeps best."


8. (U) Fernandez Mirabal served as Vice President in Leonel
Fernandez's first administration and remains a strong figure
within the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). While Vice
President, and during his previous six years in the Senate,
he often spoke out for environmental protection. As Vice
President, he also established the Quisqueya Verde
reforestation program even though it did not fall within his
portfolio. He is from the famous Mirabal family, the son of
the sole surviving sister whose story of rebellion and
martyrdom during the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship was
immortalized in Dominican lore and subsequently in the
bestselling book by Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez.
The former senator from Salcedo created an awkward situation
for President Fernandez in August when he initially refused
the environmental post, holding out for days before finally
accepting the appointment. Environmental proponents say they
hope the new Minister,s clout and his rooted support for
environmental protection will help strengthen environmental
laws and their enforcement in the country.


9. (SBU) COMMENT: Although he at first resisted the
assignment as Environmental Minister, Fernandez Mirabal has
not taken his role lightly. Rather, he has shown a
commitment to play hardball with environmental violators in a
country where merchants and industrialists have typically
relied on lax enforcement of these statutes. Post is working
closely with the Ministry to implement Chapter 17 of CAFTA-DR
and to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Ministry.
We are also working on efforts to create public awareness of
the illegal trade in turtle products which received a
significant boost from this announcement. END COMMENT.
BULLEN