Abstract

Due to the intense fishing of the last decades, almost all areas in Dominican Republic (DR) show severe signs of eco-logical deterioration, including the Sosua Bay in the N central coast. This paper presents the strategies and regulations es-tablished and enforced in the Sosua Submarine Park (Decree.634-05), by the Fundación Ecológica Magua along with the collaboration from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Tourism Police (POLITUR), and the involve-ment of the local community which includes the fishing, local government, private companies and NGO sectors. The man-agement scheme implemented by users that started in 2009 focused on zoning and surveillance, complemented by habitat/species restoration which included the following: 687 coral recruits grown in a nursery, 138 mangrove trees planted and growing in the Sosúa River estuary, and 87 individuals of long-spine sea urchin re-introduced to 15m-deep reef. This was accompanied by an extensive biological monitoring with community participation and education. The visual surveys show an increase in fish biomass and sea turtles, as well as high rates of coral recruitment. In addition, the project has created an aware community with some fishermen working as ecotourism guides, mangrove and coral gardeners, surveillance wardens and sustainable fishing practitioners. School kids, college students, business men and politicians have participated as well. Currently, we aim to increase the support from the local business community, enhance nature tourism and create a user fee system that can contribute to increase both, sustainable livelihoods for the community as conservation and ecotourism pro-grams employees, and a healthy ecosystem. The experience is expected to be replicated in other areas of the Dominican Republic.

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