In rural areas of the Dominican Republic, such as the Saltos de Jima Natural Monument in Bonao, nature provides local employment opportunities for tour guides, park rangers, and farmers. Photo: Valerie Caamaño.
When we think about employment, we tend to imagine factories, offices, or large cities. But in the Dominican Republic, and across much of Latin America and the Caribbean, there are other jobs that support entire communities: those that take place in the mountains and along the coasts, in high-altitude coffee farms or along the trails of protected areas.
These are jobs that serve an essential function: they safeguard the water we drink, protect the forests around us, and sustain the natural capital on which development depends.
In a country that recognizes the value of nature and protects more than 25% of its land and 10% of its marine area—home to mountain ranges covered in cloud forests and watersheds that supply millions of people—conserving nature is not only an environmental issue. It is also an economic decision that generates jobs and opportunities.
Park rangers, forestry technicians, ecotourism guides, women leading community nurseries, young people trained as nature interpreters: this is the everyday face of environmental work. It is local knowledge, pride, and commitment to the territory.
Forest conservation and job creation can go hand in hand
Ecotourism is not a marginal niche. When well-managed, it can anchor communities to their land and create decent work where previously migration was the only option. It can also provide an alternative to the country’s traditional sun-and-beach tourism.
We recently met Andrés Santos, president of the Tourist Guides Association at the Saltos de Jima Natural Monument in Bonao. Like many young people in his community, he could have moved to the city in search of opportunities. Instead, thanks to training and his work as a guide, he found reasons to stay.
We were also inspired by the story of Ana de Jesús de Mena, who came to this protected area seeking a better future. Over time, she became the site’s administrator and was able to provide education for her daughters, who are now all professionals.
The link between conservation and employment is not just rhetorical. The Emission Reductions Payment Agreement with the Dominican Republic (ERPA), supported by the World Bank through the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), allocates 30% of its resources to strengthening the management of protected areas and ecotourism within them.
The mechanism is clear: the country receives payments for results achieved in protecting and conserving its forests, measured by the amount of carbon emissions avoided through reduced deforestation. These resources are then translated into training, tools, and new job opportunities for the communities that protect them.
Coffee that protects the land and creates opportunities for women
What we saw at Saltos de Jima is also present, with different characteristics, among the country’s coffee-growing families.
More than 50,000 Dominican families depend on coffee farming, and high-altitude coffee remains an important source of rural employment. Moreover, sustainable cultivation not only improves productivity: it also protects forest cover, safeguards water sources, and strengthens climate resilience.
In San José de Ocoa, Yisleny del Jesús manages the local coffee growers’ hub, on which around 400 families depend. Her goal is to turn coffee into a sustainable business capable of retaining young talent in the community.
But Dominican coffee also has another valuable dimension: it is a space where many women have led a quiet transformation.
For decades, they participated throughout the value chain—harvesting, processing, and managing—without fully accessing the income generated.
That is changing. Programs like ERPA can finance key tools that communities have identified over time as necessary: technical training, record-keeping and traceability systems, and access to markets. These are investments that translate into greater economic autonomy and more employment for rural women.
An investment that remains within communities
Jobs linked to nature have a distinctive feature: when done well, their benefits endure.
The capacities built do not disappear. The protected forest continues to generate jobs, water, tourism, and harvests.
The World Bank Group supports this vision through programs such as AgriConnect, which promotes sustainable economic opportunities in rural areas, and Water Forward, which strengthens water management as a foundation for resilience and local employment. In addition, initiatives led by these women are part of our goal to provide capital to 80 million more women and women-led businesses, fostering economic empowerment in support of families and communities.
Now, more than ever, it is worth broadening our perspective: employment that protects nature is not on the margins—it is also part of the development of the Dominican Republic.
Related content
- Coffee that Creates Jobs: Forest Conservation Opens Opportunities for Women in the Dominican Republic
- Beyond the beach: Why job quality in Caribbean tourism matters more than ever
- Investing in safer and higher-quality roads could save lives in the Dominican Republic
Watch this video about women working in the Dominican coffee sector:
Join the Conversation