They promote the collective construction of the Dominican Blue Carbon Exchange

The inputs generated during the workshop will be fundamental for the next phase of the project.

Santo Domingo.– With a view to the sustainable future of the country, the Universidad Federico Henríquez y Carvajal (UFHEC), the CI-Atabey Foundation and the support of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), took a key step to strengthen the national protocol for the management, safeguards and sustainability of the blue carbon credit system, with special emphasis on mangrove ecosystems. The effort is part of the project “Dominican Blue Carbon Exchange for the Restoration and Conservation of Mangroves in the Provinces of Montecristi and Puerto Plata”, supported by the United Kingdom’s Blue Planet Fund. In this context, the entities convened a consultation workshop at the UFHEC headquarters, where expert voices from the governmental, academic, social, and private spheres were integrated to enrich the design of a national blue carbon system.

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The Vice-Rector of Science, Technology, and Innovation of UFHEC, Dr. Darwin Muñoz, highlighted that the institution, through the Environmental Sustainability Research Laboratory (LISA), provides key analytical capabilities for monitoring the health of mangroves and measuring blue carbon. In addition, he announced that as a result of the joint work with the Atabey Foundation, at least two indexed scientific publications are planned, consolidating the generation of technical knowledge in this emerging field. The workday included high-level international panels, including that of Argentine expert Nicolás Ezequiel Gaioli, who analyzed the role of blue carbon in the voluntary market, and that of Jony Velázquez, who presented a successful conservation experience in Mexico through carbon-based financing mechanisms. The attendees actively participated in thematic working tables, where they identified environmental and social safeguards, potential risks, and formulated key recommendations for the Dominican blue carbon credit system. The event concluded with the words of the president of the Atabey Foundation, Domingo Contreras, who reaffirmed the commitment to continue promoting innovative financial instruments to support ecological restoration, the sustainable management of protected areas, and actions against climate change.