The theme of this year is “be the solution to soil pollution”, highlighting the collective commitment in the protection of soils
his speech at the opening ceremony
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, December 2018 (IICA). The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, in coordination with the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD), Ministry of Agriculture, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Inter-American Institute of Cooperation for Agriculture (IICA), held on December 5, the event to celebrate World Soil Day, an event that gathered representatives from different public, private and civil society institutions working on the management of natural resources in the Dominican Republic.
The event aimed to promote awareness and joint actions of different sectors in the conservation and sustainable land use to guarantee productivity, food and water security and the reduction of environmental and socioeconomic vulnerability, through the improvement in soil and water conservation. In his speech, Mr. Frank Lam reaffirmed IICA’s commitment to work in the sustainable management of soils, an essential resource of agricultural development.
The Director of the Inter-institutional Technical Group (GTI), Dominga Polanco, gave a presentation on the guidelines, strategic alliances, advances and needs for the sustainable management of the Dominican soils from the perspective of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, where she presented relevant data from sources of pollution and soil deterioration, emphasizing the role of strategic alliances for the conservation of soil and water.
As part of the event’s agenda, it was also presented the results, products and contributions to soil conservation of the project “Catalyzing a multisectoral program of support for water and soil management in the face of the threat of climate change in the Dominican Republic”, which was implemented through an IICA-FAO alliance, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to promote a sustainable agricultural production that guarantees the conservation and management of natural resources.
More information: Gina Rosario, Specialist in Natural Resources, Agriculture and Climate Change, gina.rosario@iica.int
