Puerto Rico’s Northeastern Ecological Corridor Saved

After a long struggle of almost 9 years, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, signed an executive order establishing as public policy the designation of the Northeastern Ecological Corridor as a nature reserve.
 
The executive order also mandates the Puerto Rico Planning Board to complete all administrative procedures to formally designate the Corridor as a nature reserve within the next four months.  The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) is also obligated to complete an Acquisition Plan within the next 6 months for the purchase of private lands in the area.  This plan must include a cost estimate of all acquisition and pre-acquisition procedures, a timeframe to complete these, as well as to prioritize the order in which the lands will be acquired.
 
The Executive Order also obligates the DNER to complete a Land Use-Management Plan during the next 8 months, that should identify and delimit those areas that will be selected for preservation, restoration and conservation purposes, as well as those where ecotourism and nature tourism activities could take place.  The Planning Board is ordered to formally oficialize this Land Use-Management Plan two months after it is completed by the DNER.
 
The Governor also announced October 2007 the lease contract established between the Government and the developers of the Dos Mares Marriott Resort for the public lands where this project was partially been proposed, has been terminated.
The NEC is extraordinarily rich in natural resources including federally endangered sea turtles and manatees. The NEC also includes healthy coral reefs and world class surfing areas.
http://www.surfrider.org/nec/

The protection of the NEC was supported by the Surfrider Foundation’s National Board via a formal resolution:
http://www.surfrider.org/resolution_nec.asp

The Surfrider Foundation is proud to be a member of the Coalicíon Pro Corredor Ecológico Del Noreste, a broad coalition of environmental and community groups who worked to protect the NEC. We pay special tribute to Luis Jorge Rivera of the  Initiative for Sustainable Development who led this campaign tirelessly for many years.

Go back