Tourism and Biodiversity

This proposal suggests a solution that attempts, through the use of Technology, to help communities restore and sustain their local ecosystem. Our solution encompasses the two different populations types who make Punta Cana, Dominican Republic the successful region it has become: tourists and locals.  We hope this solution is scalable and can be reproduced in multiple other locations in the island.  The first part of our technical solution involves engaging tourists with the ecosystems in the region, allowing them to use Virtual reality to show how the flora and fauna are becoming vulnerable or in danger of extinction in the region in the hopes they take better care of the area.  The other side of our proposed solution involves the joining of forces between the community and key stakeholders from the private and public sectors, via connect producers of organics waste and plastics with farmers  or with recyclers.

Biodiversity and beaches in Punta Cana and the Dominican Republic in general, are a large part of what makes this tourist destination so attractive to foreigners. With a pre-COVID count of over 1 million tourists/year coming through Punta Cana, and more than 100,000 people moving to the area, the amount of waste generated (organics, plastic, glass, tires, oil), combined with lack of education and concern with the environment, as well as  poor recycling practices have put the flora and fauna in the area at risk of extinction.  For example, sea horses, crabs,corals, lemon shark, anguilas, cod, iguanas turtles, are all in danger of extinction. Similarly, multiple fruit plants are almost gone.

Unless we all do something about it, the existing conditions will persist and the marine ecosystem will disappear.  It all starts with education and commitment of all who live or visit the area.  We would like to facilitate those interactions.

Tourism is good for the economy as it provides local people with an income and an incentive to live in the area.  However, it is also true that most tourists don't get to really see the issues surrounding the community where they vacation. 

Our solution encompasses both communities who inhabit the area:  tourists and locals. We would deal with online travel agencies to allow a link to an app to be downloadable on whomever books tickets to come to the island.   The link would include opportunities for tourists to get involved (such as visiting and working at an organic farm; doing beach cleaning; going to see whales hatch their babies), and give them incentives for such participation in helping retain the ecosystem.  Participating in all these opportunities will reward them with different incentives they could use either in the island or when they get back.

The application will target locals by educating and helping them restore the ecosystem by use of an app downloadable by everyone with a smart phone, whereby waste materials (plastics, organics, glass, tires) can be sold off in exchange for food or other goods and therefore preventing them from finishing in the rivers or the ocean.

The first part of our solution, is the app which would allow tourists to view the potential damages that the lack of care to the environment is causing to the flora and fauna and environment.  By showing them the risks, the endangered species and giving them incentives for their active participation to concrete activities while on their trip, and incentives for doing them, we believe we can slowly achieve some results.

The second part of our solution, is an app for locals who are currently under served by their government and public officials.   In order to create a feasible solution, we will first conduct an analysis on what people understand happens to waste, how and where it ends up, and propose alternatives ranging from education, talks, to trash cans so that waste doesn't end up in rivers or in the ocean.   We will help them organize markets where waste will be either bought by farmers or recyclers, or exchanged for food.  We believe this incentive will help individuals to start separating and reusing.

This solution will also have us engaging with truck drivers, waste management company, landfill operators and recyclers in the area in order to create a holistic solution that would help both the community and the other stakeholders involved.  We believe that our organization is positioned to do just that in the Punta Cana/Bavaro communities.

We believe that by improving on the amount of waste that is generated in households and businesses, we will have cleaner water, more hygiene for the community, and also be in a better position to sustain and retain the current land and marine ecosystems.

We believe that this solution is going to be sustainable as the community will be guiding the markets and the waste sold/exchanged.  Once this pilot proves to be a good one, we would like to expand to other towns in the Dominican Republic.

Our solutions provide scalable economic opportunities for local communities, focusing on first, the effects of tourism, and how is aligned with thriving and biodiverse ecosystems.  Tourists want to discover all the Dominican Republic has to offer, and getting them and the local communities educated and involved in the well-being of the area, and making both locals and tourists the ability to care for the local ecosystem, we believe will be solving the challenge proposed.

We have selected Prototype because FECOTURE has been doing educational campaigns in the area, and it is proven that communities can learn.  We would like to test the education at a larger scale, and venture into technology to attract even more people to the services we provide to maintain the local ecosystems.

We believe our solution is innovative because it will rely on current technology, downloaded to a smart phone, which 90% of the population owns, no matter their social status.  No other company has the community's interests or ecosystems in mind, and we expect it to change not only the market but also the future of those involved.

We anticipate involvement from the community; the first year, we hope to serve about 5,000 tourists, 100 farmers, and 500 involved in educating or participating in the market idea.

As the design develops and is tested, we would like to bring the model to other parts of the island.

We will measure waste before and after the project takes place.

We will visit the natural habitats of the flora and fauna that is disappearing, and make all possible to return the habitat to one where they can reproduce.

We hope to engage mostly women in the trading of waste materials and food. By involving women we hope to be able to improve their and their families livelihoods.

By them learning how to reduce or reuse waste, we will be providing them the ability to live better and cleaner lives.

We would have 5 full time staff members, 5 part-time and contractors.

FECOTURE has teaching for the last 10 years,  staff and communities how to throw avoid single-use plastics, how to reuse plastics so that less ends up in the ocean.  FECOTURE does monthly beach cleanups and trains scouts at schools so they in turn, teach their families on 3R concepts and therefore taking care of the existing ecosystem.

We believe this experience positions us as not only the best solution to restore and maintain the local ecosystem, but also will allow us to replicate the model in other parts of the island.

FECOTURE has built a leadership team consists of women and men; volunteers include all social classes.  We focus on impacts and metrics, and on recruiting the most passionate people to help us convey the message.  We continually invest in leadership development, and ensure our personnel is able to bring the vission to others.

We hope to have this program in place not only in Punta Cana but also in other parts of the country within 5 years.

We are applying to SOLVE because we are looking at help with developing the technology to solve this challenge.  We also could benefit from mentorship and coaching from experts.

We are requesting assistance in the development of the technology, and on the product/service distribution. 

We would need money to build the phone app and anticipate 100,000 would be the total cost of building the app, buying materials and working the logistics in the area.  If SOLVE can help out with 10,000 we hope the other companies sponsoring SOLVE can help with the remaining amount.

We would like to partner with a Technology company, that can develop the applications and help us market it to online travel agencies.

We would like to partner with Public Relations companies that can help us market and brand the effort.

We would like to discuss with law students/professors to help us understand the new laws that came into effect in the Dominican Republic.

We believe to be qualified for this prize because we share the view to create a safe and sustainable community around the Punta Cana region in order to retain our Ecosystem.

Our director is female; one of our goals is to improve quality of life for women and girls who deserve a better lifestyle and a better future.

We would like to be considered for this prize because we want to make sure the supply chain keeps its integrity; we want to make sure of fair trading between locals and farmers and wish to remunerate those who try hard.

Our team would like to partner with the AI for humanity to help us understand how data science, artificial intelligence, and/or machine learning can benefit the area in Punta Cana.