Excerpt from forbes.com
After Hurricane Fiona blasted the island of Puerto Rico, it struck the Dominican Republic, where this reporter was visiting the rainforests. It was the first hurricane to rip through the island in 16 years — an event that underscores climate change’s omnipotence and the vital role rainforests play in combatting it.
The Dominican Republic is a party to the Paris climate agreement, allowing monitors to ensure the sanctity of rainforests. They absorb carbon, permitting credits to be issued that make it easier for companies and countries to meet their net-zero requirements. The island will soon be eligible to sell credits equating to 25 million tons, which could raise at least $125 million in 2023 to form an ecotourism industry while preserving biodiversity and water resources.
“The money will go to create more forests that will capture more carbon and build water resources,” says Federico Franco, vice minister of protected areas and biodiversity, in an interview with this writer at his office in Santo Domingo. “This will change the financial metrics that come from farming and timber.”