INTEC receives students from Columbia University to talk about the sustainability of coastal tourism in the DR
Under the coordination of the research professor, Dr. Víctor Gómez-Valenzuela, the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), performs a pioneering study on the ecosystem of Samaná Bay with the purpose of analyzing the economic valuation of ecosystem services associated with visits by humpback whales
SANTO DOMINGO. - The Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) received the visit of the students of the Graduate Program of the School of Public and International Studies (SIPA) of the Columbia University, from the city of New York, who were in the country to learn about issues related to the sustainability of coastal tourism in the Dominican Republic.
The delegation was accompanied by Dr. Hans-Martin Boehmer, Adjunct Professor at SIPA in Columbia, and they were received by INTEC research professor Víctor Gómez-Valenzuela.
The visit was preceded by a meeting at the Presidency of the Republic, where SIPA students received explanations about the investment and business climate in the Dominican Republic. At INTEC, the students participated in a seminar to discuss the progress of the research project on the “Economic Valuation of the Ecosystem Services of the Bay of Samaná and its surroundings: advancing towards the achievement of SDG-14”, financed by the Fund National Scientific and Technological Research Center (FONDOCyT) of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCyT), directed by Dr. Gómez-Valenzuela.
As part of the seminar, Ana Pou y Claudia Knight, doctoral students in Environmental Sciences from INTEC and research assistants of the project, presented the progress of their research on the valuation of marine mammal tourism (humpback whales) and the valuation of ecosystem services of the coastal-marine landscape, respectively.
At the seminar there was a fruitful exchange on the methods and techniques of economic valuation, the challenges that coastal tourism faces in terms of sustainability and the need to deepen scientific collaboration between the public sector, civil society, and the private sector. and academia to improve decision-making regarding sustainability and tourism planning in the Dominican Republic. The seminar had the support of the Vice-Rector for Research and Liaison of INTEC and the Doctorate of Environmental Sciences of the university.
About the research project
The research “Economic Valuation of the Ecosystem Services of the Bay of Samaná and its surroundings: moving towards achieving SDG-14”, is a pioneering study about him Samaná Bay ecosystem with the purpose of analyzing the economic valuation of the ecosystem services associated with the visits of Humpback whales to that area of the Dominican Republic.
Ecosystem services are those benefits that an ecosystem provides to society and that improve the health, economy and quality of life of people. Environmental or ecosystem services are the services that result from the functioning of ecosystems.
The study is led by Dr. Gómez-Valenzuela, environmental economist and research professor at INTEC, who is accompanied by the university's research professors, Dr. Solhanlle Bonilla-Duarte and the doctor Katerin Ramirez. Likewise, as part of the project they participate as research assistants Ana Pou Espinal, Claudia Caballero González, students of the doctorate in Environmental Sciences of INTEC, who develop their doctoral theses within the framework of the project.