USAID Environmental Protection Program Quarterly Report April-June 2010

The program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of its Cooperative Agreement No. 517-A-00-09-00106-00. The program's primary objective is to establish a network of contacts and partners among civil society organizations in the region, aligning their efforts towards environmental improvement, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable resource use. Local social actors play a crucial role in reducing and mitigating socio-environmental problems, ensuring social and economic well-being for the present and future of the province. The program's geographic focus includes the municipalities of Santa Bárbara de Samaná, Sánchez, and Las Terrenas, as well as the District Municipalities of El Limón and Las Galeras in the Province of Samaná and Sabana de la Mar in the Province of Hato Mayor. The program identified and selected civil society organizations and social/institutional actors in these municipalities based on pre-established criteria, including their organizational status, influence, and lines of work, as well as their socio-environmental actions and achievements. The program conducted semi-structured interviews with the selected organizations to gather information about their experiences and challenges. This information was systematized through a model of institutional ficha, which aims to collect fundamental information about each organization. The program also selected organizations with valuable experiences and lessons learned, which are presented in eleven case studies. The program's outcomes include the creation of a directory of civil society organizations in the Bahía de Samaná region, which aims to provide a repository of social actors working on environmental issues, indicating their activities and the impact of their work. The directory is also available in a virtual format on the CEBSE website. The program's activities included the planning, execution, and evaluation of an encounter among the participating organizations, which created a space for concertation and experience sharing among civil society organizations working on biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource use in the region. The event aimed to promote networking as a new culture of work among the organizations, enabling them to coordinate concrete work proposals and initiatives addressing environmental improvement and resource management. The program's results include the identification of the most important environmental problems in each municipality and the proposal of solutions, with each organization committing to at least one activity related to the solution of these problems. The program's outcomes are presented in the following sections, which provide a detailed description of the participating organizations, their activities, and their experiences. The Asociación para el Desarrollo de Las Galeras is one of the participating organizations, which aims to solve the main environmental and social problems in the Las Galeras region through the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and working in synergy with other civil society organizations and the state. The organization's activities include operational clean-up of the beach and urban areas, construction of infrastructure, and promotion of sustainable tourism. The organization's mission and vision are to promote sustainable development and environmental conservation in the Las Galeras region, while its objectives include the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, the promotion of sustainable tourism, and the improvement of the quality of life of the local population. The organization's activities are carried out in collaboration with other organizations, including CEBSE, Empresarios Turísticos, Secretaría de Turismo, INFOTEP, Fuerzas Armadas, and the Ayuntamiento de Las Galeras.