C.R.E.A.R.
Centro Regional de Estudios de Alternativas Rurales
Río Limpio, Dominican Republic
A Center for Education, Training, and Investigation in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development
Founded in 1982
CREAR is located in Rio Limpio, an isolated community in the border region of the
Dominican Republic. Rio Limpio is found at an altitude of 800 meters above sea level
within the watershed of the El Valle (The Valley) river, which is located within the major
watershed of the Artibonito river. The average annual temperature in Rio Limpio is 19° C,
and the average annual rainfall is 2,100 mm. In this mountainous region of the country,
the inhabitants subsist primarily from their agricultural products, as there are very
few other opportunities for work. This region was considered ideal for the location of
the center, given the high level of natural resource destruction and the source of the
very important international waters of the Artibonito river.
Typical of rural communities found in developing countries, Rio Limpio is without electricity, safe drinking water, and adequate medical facilities. There is no post office nor reliable means of communication, and the quality of education is poor and the work opportunities are limited. The nearest major town to Rio Limpio is Loma de Cabrera, located 36 kilometers away and reached by roads in very poor condition.
In this community with a population that exceeds 3000, CREAR maintains a working farm with a broad program of education, training, and on-farm research in sustainable agriculture and integrated rural development. The centers 23 hectares (51 acres) are divided into several areas: intensive horticulture, traditional field crops, animal husbandry, soil conservation, agroforestry, and compost production. The center maintains 4 small buildings which serve for the various uses of the education and training programs.
11 million hectares of our global forest cover are destroyed each year.
7 million are lost in Latin America alone. In Central America and the Caribbean,
deforestation is causing such a severe loss of the natural resource base that the
possibility for future social and economic development is seriously threatened.
The campesinos of this region play a key role in the continuing destruction.
In a desperate struggle for their own survival they continue to practice slash-and-burn
agriculture, cutting down the remaining forests as they search for productive soils.
They are caught in a cycle of soil erosion, declining crop yields, increasing poverty
and migration to the cities. Confronted by this environmental, economic and social
crisis it is essential to help these farmers change to sustainable agricultural methods.
Effecting change in agriculture requires well-trained promoters living and working
within the farming community. One great obstacle to progress is the shortage of such
field personnel. CREAR introduces a community-based strategy for agricultural change
and the training of farmers as agricultural promoters.
In 1981 Mark Feedman and Chela Lightchild (who were Peace Corps volunteers in Rio Limpio
during the years 1971-73), proposed to the Dominican Ministry of Agriculture and the
Agrarian Reform Institute a cross-Atlantic trip during which 7 Dominican technicians
would visit different European countries to observe biodynamic/biologic agricultural
practices in different farms. The idea from the two North Americans was well received,
and the trip was made during the same year.
Upon returning from the trip, the Dominican technicians submitted a report along with a
recommendation for the establishment of a center in the Dominican Republic where training
and education in biological agriculture could provide an alternative to the ubiquitous
slash and burn techniques threatening the country's natural resources. Later in 1981,
Mark and Chela were invited to return to the D.R. to establish the center in Rio Limpio,
and in 1982 an agreement was signed between the Dominican Ministry of Agriculture and the
Agrarian Reform Institute to officially establish the center. CREAR was conceived as a
center whose mission included education, training, and demonstration in sustainable
agriculture, focusing principally in the education of the youth of the Rio Limpio region.
CREAR was incorporated into the D.R. as a non-profit organization on the 2nd of October
1984 by the Presidential Decree No. 2388. Since its establishment, CREAR has developed
the following programs:
Throughout its history of more than 20 years, CREAR has gone through different stages
of economic stability and has struggled to maintain the survival of its youth education
program. Today, the center finds itself in a new stage of reorganization and refocus
in order to create a sustainable vision for the future. This process of reorganization
is coinciding with the decision of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to
support the center financially. There currently exists a great interest, both nationally
and internationally, in the protection of the natural resources of the border region
between the D.R. and Haiti, as well as the international waters of the Artibonite river.
CREAR finds itself in a very strategic position to contribute to an effort to promote
sustainable agriculture and rural development in this area of the island.
In July of 2003, a group of nine students in the High-School Agronomy Program finished
their studies in the center, and a formal celebration of their graduation was held in
August. In September 2003, a new group of 14 students began their studies in the first
semester of this same program. For the coming school year of 2004-05, the center is
hoping to recruit about 15 more students, so that the total number of students studying
in the center can be maintained at around 30.