TUI Sea the Change Dominican Republic

Bávaro Beach, near Punta Cana, is a popular tourism destination in the Dominican Republic that dazzles its visitors with white sandy beaches and beautiful coral reefs. With an estimated four million tourists arriving at nearby Punta Cana International Airport every year, the beach is a part of the most developed touristic infrastructure in the country.

But seasonal overpopulation at the beach, coupled with unsustainable fishing practices, a rapid growth in the local economy, and a tourism industry that hasn’t prioritised environmental conservation, has had a disruptive effect on the natural regeneration of its vulnerable underwater ecosystem.

TUI Sea the Change Dominican Republic is working in partnership with Bávaro Reef Ecological Foundation to restore and preserve the ecological health and biodiversity of the area through community engagement and education. The project creates a long-lasting impact that ensures a thriving and resilient ecosystem in and around Bávaro Beach.

In recent years, Bávaro has faced a number of challenges in effectively protecting the local marine environment. Increasing boat traffic creates a risk of collision with bigger sea animals and noise pollution that disrupts the behaviour patterns of marine wildlife. In addition to this, boat moorings and improper anchoring practices can damage coral reefs and seagrass beds, contributing to the destruction of important habitats. Coral reef degradation is also a result of overfishing and pollution, which causes disruptions in the delicate balance of the underwater ecosystem.

To help maintain the marine biodiversity of Bávaro, TUI Sea the Change Dominican Republic is working in partnership with the Bávaro Reef Ecological Foundation (Fundación Ecológica Los Arrecifes de Bávaro). The programme contributes to the protection of a total of over 560 hectares of seascapes, which will be zoned and demarcated through five TUI Care Foundation buoys.

Awareness workshops and coral gardening helps to train 200 local beach workers and fishermen to protect the area. Almost 30 organisations will be engaged in Bávaro as well as Cabeza de Toro to build understanding and capacity to respond to local conservation needs.

The programme relies on the creation of a sustainable tourism product, the Bávaro Snorkel Lover experience, which will engage 27.500 tourists through a combination of coral gardening, awareness and snorkelling. A local ranger team patrols the beaches to protect against turtle poaching, and a coral nursery programme helps to restore the local sea urchin population.

PROJECT PARTNER

PROJECT PARTNER

The Bávaro Reef Ecological Foundation (Fundación Ecológica Los Arrecifes de Bávaro) is a non-profit organisation that was founded in 2016 and officially registered on 2018. The concern for the constant loss of coastal resources in the Punta Cana Bavaro tourist area and decrease in marine life biodiversity motivated the surveillance and enforcement of the areas in collaboration with local authorities.

The Foundation is committed to the responsible management of coastal resources, as well as the conservation and holistic protection of the marine ecosystem of the area. We maintain coral nurseries and artificial reefs that guarantee the preservation of the endangered species that belong to the marine ecosystem affected by tourism activities.

FOLLOW
TRITON!

Turtle1
Your decision – your user experience at tuicarefoundation.com

We use cookies and other technologies that are necessary for services and functions on our website.

In addition, and provided you consent and select "Agree", we and our up to five third-party partners may place cookies on your device, use other technologies and collect and process personal data [e.g. IP address] from you in order to suggest personalized content to you on our website and to carry out measurements and analyses. Data transfer to third countries [e.g. USA] may also be possible, where the EU data protection level may deviate and access by authorities there cannot be ruled out.

You can find more information under "Settings" and decide which cookies and which cookie-based processing of your data you wish to reject or accept. Further information about cookies can be found in the Cookie Notice.

Imprint Privacy Notice Cookie Notice
Decline
Settings
Accept
Managing your cookie settings

Use the "Status" control to decide for yourself which cookies we are allowed to set. Save your settings by clicking the "Agree" button.

You can change these settings at any time. You can find further information about the processing of your data in our Privacy Notice.

Cookies Description Status
Necessary Necessary Cookies are required for the app to function and cannot be switched off in your systems. We need necessary Cookies so that the service you request on our app functions properly and so that you can move around our app and use its functions, such as filling out forms. Cookie Notice
Statistics These Cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our app. They help us answer questions about which pages are most popular, which are least used and how visitors move around the app. If you allow statistical Cookies, we can use this aggregated information to improve our service and the usability of our websites for you. All information collected is aggregated and is therefore anonymous. This information may be transmitted to our partners such as Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Google Ireland Limited, Pinterest Europe Limited, Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited (Privacy Notice) if you also agree under "Marketing". Cookie Notice
I Agree