Panels: Educating Audiences on Environmental Issues

Santo Domingo, 9/12/2011

One of the purposes of the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) is to educate audiences on environmental issues, raise consciousness about the dangers that lie ahead and to recommend individual as well as strategic solutions.

To that end, the DREFF programming included an expansive schedule of discussions and panels in which the local community had an opportunity to exchange points of view and experiences with our international guests, all of whom represented prestigious and relevant initiatives and organizations, such as the Plastic Pollution Coalition or directors of important film festivals such as the All Roads Film Festival, National Geographic, the DC Environmental Film Festival and the Blue Ocean Film Festival. There were also film and documentary makers as well as painters and artists.

Issues discussed included plastic pollution and the need to eliminate single-use containers and reduce their presence in our daily lives, the role of bees in sustainable agriculture, the consequence of climate change, the effects of video games in the lives of the new generation of young people, the need for exploration, scientific work and the analysis and implementation of the results.

The discussions were many and varied. The international guests had the chance to get a close up look at our country, its rich biodiversity and natural beauty as well as the challenges that come with modernization, urbanization of Dominican society and the consequences of the conventional systems of productions facing the country today. In view of all this, suggestions and proposals of measures and alternatives that might help improve the situation were shared with the specialists, environmentalists, highly-placed public officials and public as well as private organizations.

The DREFF also provided numerous opportunities to share ideas among the specialists while making the general population aware of the efforts that have already been made in this area in the DR. These efforts are continuing as the government develops conservation plans for the national parks through the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas, modernizes and cleans up production systems through the Executive Secretariat of the Presidency for Climate Change and Clean Production. Efforts being made by local government and town councils are also noteworthy as they carry out management and elimination of solid residue. All of this in addition to an extremely important endeavor that has been in effect for 25 years: the Silver Bank Sanctuary of Navidad and Bahía de Samaná which has been protecting the earth’s marine mammals and conserving their ocean habitat.

The DREFF views and promotes these meetings as an opportunity to create and develop national and international networks between individuals and organizations who work in these areas, with the goal of establishing strong links and lasting relationships that will continue working and advancing the projects generated by this gathering throughout the whole year.