VZCZCXYZ0013
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #1084/01 1281424
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081424Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RHEHAAA/WHITEHOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8172
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001084 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR OES/ENV RACHEL KASTENBERG, BOB WING; WHA/EPSC JUN 
BANDO; DEPT PASS USAID/LAC/RSD JOHN GARRISON; DEPT PASS 
USTR MARA BURR; WHITE HOUSE FOR USTR MARA BURR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ELAB EPA ETRD SENV DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: NON-USG DONOR ASSISTANCE FOR 
ENVIRONMENTAL TRADE CAPACITY BUILDING 
 
REF: 07 STATE 54169 
 
¶1.  Summary.  Per reftel, emboff met with officials from the 
Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources 
 
SIPDIS 
(SEMARENA) to discuss environmental trade capacity building 
(TCB) projects in the Dominican Republic that are financed by 
non-USG donors.  In total, there are nine major donors that 
support 32 major environmental TCB projects.  Most projects 
are multi-year and the estimated amount is USD 160.8 million. 
 The donor countries are Germany, Japan, Spain, Canada, and 
Switzerland.  The multi-lateral institutions are the Inter 
American Development Bank (IDB), the European Union 
Commission (EU), the United Nations, (UN) Development 
Program (UNDP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization 
(FAO).  Most of these projects will improve the Dominican 
Republic's capacity to implement and benefit from the 
Dominican Republic-Central America-United States (CAFTA-DR) 
regional free trade agreement.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  The donors are broken out as follows: 
 
Countries 
-Germany, two donors: Gesellschaft fur Technische 
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED) 
-Japan: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) 
-Spain: Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI) 
-Canada: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) 
-Switzerland: Swiss Association for International Cooperation 
(HELVETAS) 
 
Multi-lateral institutions 
-Inter American Development Bank (IDB) 
-European Union Commission (EU) 
-United Nations Development Program (UNDP) 
-United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 
 
¶3.  The majority of the donor programs can be categorized 
under the four themes of the CAFTA-DR Environmental 
Cooperation Agreement (ECA).  For clarification purposes, 
each program lists the donor, the program's focus, the 
program's name, a brief description of the program, the 
amount funded, and the length of the program.  The programs 
included in this cable compliment many of the USAID CAFTA-DR 
projects in the Dominican Republic.  USAID meets with donors 
semi-annually to ensure that there is no duplication or waste 
of resources. 
 
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A) Institutional Strengthening for Effective Implementation 
and Enforcement of Environmental Laws 
 
1) (GTZ) Bilateral project - Natural Resources Management 
project: supports natural resource policy formulation, 
institutional strengthening, decentralization/municipal 
environmental management, watershed management, and 
development of sustainable/profitable natural resource 
management pilots, (USD 7.9 million), (3-yr, 2006-2009). 
 
2) (GTZ) Regional project (Dominican Republic and Haiti) ) 
The Artibonito river: promotes institutional strengthening 
and development of sustainable/profitable natural resource 
management pilots, (USD 2 million), (3-yr, 2004-2007). 
 
3) (GTZ/DED) Regional project (Dominican Republic, Haiti and 
Honduras) ) Fight against desertification: provides support 
to Technical Inter-Institutional Groups (GTI) and Local 
Working Teams (CTL); supports Development of National Action 
Plans (PAN) to combat desertification; supports civil society 
participation and institutional strengthening, (USD 1.4 
million) (5-yr, 2003-2008). 
 
4) (DED) Bilateral project ) Automation and documentation of 
experiments and methodologies: provides assistance in the 
preparation and automation of manuals and regulations; 
provides training on associated technical equipment, (USD 
14,960) (1-yr, 2005-2006). 
 
5) (DED) Regional project (Dominican Republic, Haiti and 
Honduras) ) Fight against desertification: supports 
coordination among government organizations and 
non-government organizations (NGOs) to implement the United 
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), (USD 
510,000) (4-yr, 2003-2008). 
 
6) (DED) Bilateral project ) Sustainable rural development 
in the Joca and Artibonito watersheds: develops community 
 
land-use plans, sustainable agriculture/soil conservation 
models and implements community reforestation projects, (USD 
204,000) (2-yr, 2004-2006). 
 
7) (DED) Bilateral project ) Strengthen municipal 
environmental management: provides policy assistance 
(national and local) for municipal environmental management, 
inter-institutional coordination, institutional 
strengthening, and decentralization, (USD 394,400) (4-yr, 
2003-2007). 
 
8) (DED) Bilateral project ) Municipal environmental 
management planning: provides planning assistance and 
training on municipal environmental management, institutional 
strengthening, and decentralization, (USD 503,200) (4-yr, 
2003-2007). 
 
9) (AECI) Bilateral project ) Water supply and sanitation: 
supports surface-water source protection, reforestation, 
agro-forestry, environmental education, institutional 
strengthening, and disaster mitigation, (USD 2.72 million) 
(4-yr, 2006-2010). 
 
10) (JICA) Bilateral project ) Sustainable management of the 
Upper Sabana Yegua Dam watershed: provides assistance in 
watershed management, agro-forestry, irrigated agriculture, 
prevention/control of forest fires, community participation 
in environment management, and GIS/GPS training, (USD 4 
million) (3-yr, 2006-2009). 
 
11) (JICA) Bilateral project ) Development study for the 
management of solid waste in Santo Domingo: supports 
public-private partnerships for waste management, which 
involves citizen participation; promotes hospital/natural 
disaster waste management, (USD 2 million) (2-yr, 2005-2007). 
 
12) (JICA) Bilateral project ) National Strategic Plan for 
the development of Ecotourism in the Dominican Republic: 
helps develop a national ecotourism strategy. (USD 2 million) 
(2006-TBD). 
 
13) (JICA) Bilateral project ) Environmental Information 
Center: promotes the development of a national center that 
provides environmental information and education to the 
public, (funds and timeline - TBD). 
 
14) (JICA) Bilateral project ) Scholarship program: provides 
training on natural resource management, ecotourism 
planning/management, eco-construction, and capacity building 
on the Kyoto Protocol, (USD 40,000 per course) (1-yr, 
2006-2007). 
 
15) (FAO) Bilateral project ) Revision of the National 
Forestry Academy's curriculum: revises competence targets for 
technical-level participants and redesigns curriculum, (USD 
177,000) (2.5-yr, 2004-2006). 
 
16) (FAO) Bilateral project ) National Action Plan, the 
Fight against Desertification, and revision of operating 
procedures of the Dominican technical inter-institutional 
group (GTI): prepares training materials and modules, revises 
GTI procedures, and assists in the development of the 
National Action Plan (PAN), (USD 25,500) (1-yr, 2005-2006). 
 
17) (EU) Bilateral project ) Repair environmental damage 
caused by mining: provides technical assistance in repairing 
the Rosario gold mine's environmental damage, in mapping, in 
developing risk assessments of mining assets, in 
institutional strengthening, and in mining and protecting the 
environment, (USD 20.5 million) (5-yr, 2005-2010). 
 
18) (EU) Bilateral project ) Water sanitation program in the 
border region: promotes increased access to water and 
sanitation services and conducts risk management assessments 
in the Dominican Republic-Haiti border zone, (funds-TBD) 
(3-yr, 2006-2009). 
 
19) (IDB) Bilateral project ) Watershed and coastal zone 
management: provides loans in the planning stage; additional 
activities TBD (USD 50 million) (5-yr, 2007-2012): this 
project is currently in its development stages. 
 
20) (IDB) Bilateral project ) Prevention of disasters and 
risk management: provides risk prevention at the local level; 
incorporates risk into educational programs and national 
planning, (USD 5 million) (2.5-yr, 2006-2009). 
 
21) (CIDA) Regional project (Dominican Republic and Haiti) ) 
Watershed management of the Artibonito river region: supports 
poverty alleviation through sustainable natural resource 
management in the Artibonito watershed; foments watershed 
co-management initiatives; increases natural resource 
management capacity, and improves rural infrastructure, (USD 
9 million) (7-yr, 2004-2011). 
 
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B) Biodiversity and Conservation 
 
1) (HELVETAS) Bilateral project ) Sustainable use of natural 
resources: promotes biodiversity, soil conservation, water 
source protection and development, integrated natural 
resource management, ecotourism, and micro-credit development 
and planning, (USD 434,600) (3-yr, 2003-2006). 
 
---------- 
 
C) Market-Based Conservation 
 
1) (DED) Bilateral project ) Commercialization of 
agro-forestry products in the buffer zones of the Loma 
Guaconejo Scientific Reserve: supports cocoa organic 
certification and quality improvements, cocoa/coffee/coconut 
commercialization, institutional strengthening, and 
environmental education, (USD 435,000) (3.5-yr, 2003-2006). 
 
2) (DED) Bilateral project ) Watershed protection in the 
Upper Yaque del Norte River Watershed: provides assistance in 
forestry/agriculture management and commercialization, 
community development, and organizational strengthening, (USD 
510,000) (2-yr, 2005-2007). 
 
3) (DED) Bilateral project ) Ecotourism in the Loma Quita 
Espuela Scientific Reserve: supports ecotourism marketing and 
infrastructure, and provides training to communities on 
ecotourism services and environmental education, (USD 17,700) 
(2-yr, 2004-2006). 
 
4) (DED) Bilateral project ) Commercialization of wood and 
agro-forestry products: provides technical assistance in wood 
processing and marketing, agricultural product 
commercialization, and institutional strengthening, (USD 
312,800) (2.5-yr, 2000-2006). 
 
5) (DED) Bilateral project ) Ecotourism in protected areas: 
promotes ecotourism marketing, a public monitoring system, 
inter-institutional coordination, and ecotourism training, 
(USD 69,360) (5-yr, 2002-2007). 
 
6) (AECI) Bilateral project ) Araucaria XXI 
Project/Enriquillo: provides training in the management of 
natural resources and protected areas, integrated 
micro-watershed management; supports sustainable development 
activities, institutional strengthening, and municipal 
environmental management, (USD 4.76 million) (4-yr, 
2005-2009). 
 
---------- 
 
D) Improved Private Sector Environmental Performance 
 
Non-USG donor programs do not have any projects in this area. 
 
---------- 
 
E) The following programs are not directly related to the ECA: 
 
1) (GTZ) Bilateral project ) Prevention against natural 
disasters: provides assistance in the development of 
agro-forestry and reforestation systems, flood protection 
(construction of retaining walls), sustainable agriculture 
and water management, (USD 3.4 million) (2.5-yr, 2006-2008). 
 
2) (FAO) Regional project (Latin American and Caribbean 
countries) ) Development of a regional cooperation strategy 
for the prevention, control and combat of forest fires: 
promotes a regional forest-fire prevention strategy, control 
and combat plan; and establishes three regional forest-fire 
prevention networks (CAM, Caribbean and South America), (USD 
265,000) (1-yr, 2005-2006). 
 
3) (EU) Bilateral project ) Prevention of and preparedness 
for natural disasters: provides assistance in the development 
of a disaster prevention information network; promotes the 
 
increase of disaster management capabilities, and improves 
emergency management at the national level, (USD 8.84 
million) (4-yr, 2006-2010). 
 
4) (UNDP) Bilateral project ) Environmental sustainability 
management and risk management in the event of emergencies 
and disasters: helps establish a national risk management and 
disaster prevention/preparedness system; helps implement 
natural resource protection plans in degraded watersheds, and 
develops disaster prevention and awareness programs, (USD 
24.3 million, other agencies USD 8.27 million) (4-yr, 
2007-2011). 
BULLEN