Unlikely partners restore watersheds in Dominican Republic
It wasn’t long ago that conservationist Francisco Núñez would set out by mule on one of his weekslong treks into the mountainous region known as the “Mother of the Water,” kicking up dust from the parched land underfoot.
Over the past 100 years, the land was stripped of trees for ranching and has deteriorated amid natural disasters and soaring demand for water in the Dominican Republic’s cities. As a result, the nation’s four watersheds have been under severe strain, setting off extreme drought in 2015.
Mr. Núñez’s treks look vastly different from a decade ago, despite ongoing water scarcity, thanks to his dedication to recuperating the watersheds. The brown dirt has
