VZCZCXYZ0017
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #1641/01 2971934
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231934Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1625
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 1062

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001641 
 
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. 
 
 
----------------------- 
"New broom sweeps best" 
----------------------- 
 
¶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