The National Plan of Action to Combat Desertification and Drought 2018-2030 and the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) voluntary targets were presented in the event
giving the welcome remarks of the event.
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, December 05, 2017 (IICA). Under the theme “Caring for the Planet starts from the Ground” the international community celebrated World Soil Day on December 5th. In the Dominican Republic, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources organized an event with the participation of representatives from public, private and civil society institutions that work with natural resources management in the country, including Mr. Leandro Mercedes, Vice Minister of Agricultural Extension and Training of the Ministry of Agriculture, Pedro Pablo Peña, Executive Director of the Center for Agricultural and Forestry Development (CEDAF) and Fatima Espinal, Assistant Representative of the United Nations Food Organization and Agriculture (FAO) in the Dominican Republic, among others. The event was held at the Renaissance Jaragua Santo Domingo Hotel.
The welcome remarks of the event were delivered by Mr. Manuel Serrano, Vice Minister of Forest Resources, who highlighted the importance of the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Drought and the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) voluntary targets to address the challenges presented by desertification and drought in the Dominican Republic. In this regard, Mr. Serrano specified that “this day comes with decisive actions that will have a sensitive and measurable impact for the preservation of such an important resource as the soil.”
During the event, Guillermo Olmedo, an FAO Expert from the headquarters in Rome gave a presentation through videoconference about the Status of the World’s Soil Resources. At the national level, Rafael Rivera from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources presented the current status of soils resources and offered information about the types of soils and the consequences caused by the degradation. Likewise, Fidel Pérez, consultant, presented the National Plan of Action to Combat Desertification and Drought 2018-2030 and the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) voluntary targets for the Dominican Republic.
Gina Rosario, Specialist in Natural Resources, Agriculture and Climate Change, and Héctor Garibaldis Pérez, Specialist in Agribusiness participated in the event on behalf of IICA. Mr. Pérez gave a closing remarks highlighting the importance of soils in the Dominican Republic and IICA’s commitment to preserve this natural resource.
The World Soil Day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly with the A/RES/68/232 resolution from December 20, 2013 in order to increase awareness of such an important natural resource worldwide.
More information: Gina Rosario, Specialist in Natural Resources, Agriculture and Climate Change, gina.rosario@iica.int
