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FOR CULTURAL AND BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY!Green and sustainable cities

In the Decade of Biodiversity and the 25th Anniversaryof the Fundación Ciencia y Arte, Inc.

1st World Ecotourism and Production FairNature-based tourism in its many forms is becoming more relevant

for the peoples of the world. Awareness of the importance to take careof the fundamental basis of life – nature – is increasing. Many visitorsare interested in going to relevant areas of the globe where there is richand radiant biodiversity.

Similarly, many communities in the world seek to display theirhistory and preserve their cultural heritage with pride.

In many cases, nature and the culture of peoples unite to redefinetourism and make it more attractive, a tool for development that ensuresa prosperous and dignified life for all.

It is known that to protect nature requires a global collaborativeeffort. It is not only an individual task but it is fundamentally a collectiveone. As such, it is relevant now more than ever, given the levels ofdestruction of the vital ecosystems of life in the world, that the damagingand degrading action that affects habitats be stopped and biologicalrichness preserved.

To this end, it is necessary to adopt strategies for the carefulmanagement of natural resources, including important conservationaction, with local, national, regional and international entities that linkthe preservation of nature to human development in a dynamic fashion.

Culture, in its broadest diversity, is meant to unite peoples, butalso to create awareness of human fraternity and the unbreakable linkof it to Mother Nature and the universe.

Location and ScopeThe First Ecotourism and Production Expo will be held in the

MUNICIPALITY OF SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS, located148 kilometres from the city of Santo Domingo, capital of the DominicanRepublic, in the islands of the Caribbean. The activity will take placefrom Saturday 18th to Sunday 26th October, 2014.

The expo will take place in the province of Santiago andneighbouring provinces, located in the heart of the region of Cibao,where the colours of nature, hard-working people and the culture ofthe communities combine to create one of the most authentic andwelcoming environments on earth.

This activity is the 18th Ecotourism and Production Fair organisedby the Fundación Ciencia y Arte, Inc., and the first international one.To date, and in the framework of the expos, there have been five bi-national Fairs with our sister Republic of Haiti.

This international expo is being organised in conjunction with themunicipal council of Santiago de los Caballeros, an entity whoseobjective is to turn the municipality into a model green city of generaldevelopment.

The fair is supported by state institutions, the private sector andcommunity-based entities, as well as by countries and regional andinternational cooperation bodies.

Based on the above, the motto for this first international fair is:FOR CULTURAL AND BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY!

Green and Sustainable CitiesThe organising entities will make every effort to have the five

continents represented so that states, councils, companies, associations,academic centres, regional and international multilateral cooperationbodies, and various communities can share their experiences andshowcase their advances with regard to the objectives identified.

Santiago de los Caballeros: a municipality of exceptional, productive,cultural and natural richness

SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS, formerly Santiago deAmérica, was founded in 1508, on the skirts of the impressive mountainPico Diego de Ocampo.

Santiago de los Caballeros is the second most important economicand densely populated municipality of the Dominican Republic.Providing 15% of the Gross Domestic Product of the country, it isparticularly important for the national economy. Its population is almostone million inhabitants. Farming and industrial production is knownto constitute one of the historical bases for economic development in

the Dominican Republic. Today, this production includes a workingsector of great importance and productive areas of great relevance forthe social and economic life in the Dominican Republic, particularlyin the domestic market and in exports. Industrial sites and plantationsare a clear expression of the progress achieved over the past forty years.Some of the areas of production have become international brands dueto their high quality. SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS, with itsheroic accomplishments, has set the historic pace of the Dominicannationality and identity.

The city is known as the HEART CITY due to its very privilegedlocation. The heartbeat of the whole Dominican land is felt in this citygiven its many special features.

The levels of social organisation and cultural development arehigh. It possesses the most varied business institutions, unions,environmental, academic, religious, community-based, sporting andcultural associations, which for decades have been working togetherin a long-term municipal and provincial development plan.

The architecture, the historic centre, the monuments and therecreational area, as well as the carnival and the many forms of artexpression give the municipality of Santiago a special charm.

Exuberant and luscious nature is found in its surroundings, withthe main attraction being the mounting Pico Diego de Ocampo, on thenorthern mountain range.

The council of SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS is not onlyconcerned with the environmental sector of the municipality but alsowith the development of the rural and urban infrastructure ofneighbourhoods so that people may lead dignified lives and enjoy abetter quality of life. In drafting its municipal policy, efforts andwillingness are evident in articulating the various political, social,

economic and cultural forms so that the people in the municipality maydevelop in harmony with each other and with nature.

To date, the Municipal Council has organised more than seventyprojects, amounting to almost US$4,000,000.00 with a view tomodernising the city and the rural surroundings and to bring themup to speed with advances experienced by similar municipalitiesworldwide.

SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS is strategically located tobe a hub by excellence and, in a way, the capital of the most productiveregion of the Dominican Republic: El Cibao.

SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS is a bridge between theDominican Republic and Haiti, and it is connected through a directnetwork of airways with Central America, the Caribbean, North Americaand Europe.

It is a municipality equipped with the most modern hotel andcommunication infrastructure, and business and finance have seensignificant progress in the past two decades.

Organising the First World Ecotourism and Production Fair inSANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS also means creating possibilitiesfor tourists around the world to visit the Dominican Republic, a countrythat has been experiencing particular development in tourism in itsextensive costal and marine ecosystem in the past forty years. Moreover,more than 67% of its territory is covered by mountains and gifted withtropical crops in fertile valleys. The Dominican Republic has enormouspotential to expand the ecotourism activity which is already developingin many areas. Special features of cultural manifestations of the Caribbeancountry are portrayed in the various regions, weaving the fabric of theDominican identity and displaying centuries-old heritage of contactwith the whole Caribbean, Africa, Europe, America and the rest of theworld.

All of this ensures visitors come into contact with new experiencesfrom nature, business, agritourism and cultural tourism.

Objectives of the Ecotourism and Production FairThe seventeen Ecotourism and Production Fairs organised by the

Fundación Ciencia y Arte since 1997, have been held mainly in ruralareas of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

From these, five fairs have been bi-national. They have beenorganised in conjunction with municipal councils, the governments ofthe Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti, Dominican andHaitian social entities, the private sector, international cooperationentities and guest countries. It is important to note that the secondEcotourism and Production Fair was successfully held in the area ofJacagua, municipality of Santiago de los Caballeros, in 1998, amidstan extraordinarily beautiful rural landscape.

Its objectives have been, inter alia:-To spread, in the heart of communities, the idea that they candevelop their own natural, productive and cultural resourceswith their own strengths and means.-To promote the culture of conscientious use of natural resourcesand to preserve cultural identity.-To promote internal tourism and the knowledge of worldgeography.-To contribute to the process of organisation of communitiesand social cohesion in the heart of those communities, amongother communities and among peoples of other countries.

It is an ecotourism fair because it portrays ecotourism as an optionfor local, sustainable and general development. It is a production fairbecause only through productive work by the people is it possible tomake ecotourism a lasting activity.

For those reasons, the fair is A SONG TO NATURE FOR HUMANDEVELOPMENT AND SOLIDARITY AMONG PEOPLES.

Objectives of the First World Ecotourism and ProductionFair1.- The preservation of cultural and biological diversity worldwide

On this occasion, the fair will transcend the local and nationalrealms. The Fundación Ciencia y Arte and the municipal council ofSantiago de los Caballeros seek to facilitate the sharing of experiencesamong various countries on how to promote local development withthe conscientious use of natural resources and the protection of theenvironment, as well as management of historic and cultural heritagefor lasting development.