Protect PR's Environment

[Ecuajey]

Governor asked to conserve Northeast Ecological Corridor

Friday, January 24th, 2003.

SAN JUAN (AP) – Environmental organizations announced Friday that they have sent over 256,000 letters to Gov. Sila Calderon requesting that the Northeast Ecological Corridor, located in Luquillo and Fajardo, be designated a natural reserve.

According to the environmentalists, there are plans to develop several residential-tourist projects in the area, among which are the San Miguel-Four Season Resort and Dos Mares-J.W.Marriot Resort.

Ricardo de Soto, Puerto Rico Waterkeepers president and representative of the local chapter of Sunfrider Foundation, and Luis Jorge Rivera Herrera, of the Iniciativa para un Desarrollo Sustentable (IDS), said they hoped that with this effort, “the Puerto Rico government will acknowledge once and for all the public interest in favor of conservation of the corridor.”

Rivera Herrera said these 26,000 letters are added to the over 17,000 letters previously sent to the Planning Board, the Legislative Assembly, and the Environmental Quality Board requesting that the project permits be revoked and that the ecological corridor be protected.

De Soto and Rivera Herrera said the campaign for the Northeast Ecological Corridor started in August through Environmental Defense, one of the most influential organizations in the United States.

"We trust that the current administration will comply with their proposed government plan, Puerto Rican Project for the 21st Century, that establishes, among other things, the creation of ecological corridors, the provision of reliable potable water, and discontinuing the selling of public land of high agricultural and environmental value,” said Marian Gonzalez of IDS.