Miches is a town located in

El Seibo El Seibo (), alternatively spelt El Seybo, is a province of the Dominican Republic. Before 1992 it included what is now Hato Mayor province. Municipalities and municipal districts The province as of June 20, 2006 is divided into the following m ...

province in the northeast coast of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. The community sits between the northern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental and the southern shore of the

Samaná Bay Samaná Bay is a bay in the eastern Dominican Republic. The Yuna River flows into Samaná Bay, and it is located south of the town of Samaná and the Samaná Peninsula. Wildlife Among its features are protected islands that serve as nesting site ...

. Miches is an emerging rural community, so that it has limited access to markets, low levels of education and limited opportunities for employment; according to the National Office of Statistics of the Dominican Republic (ONE), 70.7% of households in El Seibo lived in poverty in year 2010. With the commercial fishing growth and the increase of local population, Miches is also perceiving the strain of overuse of water, in addition to coral reefs sedimented by the increasing runoff from land caused by agricultural activity.

Origin of name

In 1936, the community formerly known as El Jovero changed its name -through Act No. 1181, published in the Official Gazette No. 4956-, in honor of the Dominican General Eugenio Miches.

Economic activity

Miches has traditionally been a humble community in one of the poorest regions of the Dominican Republic. Agriculture -particularly the cultivation of rice, coconut, cocoa and tubers like

yautía ''Xanthosoma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the arum family, Araceae. The genus is native to tropical America but widely cultivated and naturalized in other tropical regions. Several are grown for their starchy corms, an important food stap ...

and

ñame Yam is the common name for some plant species in the genus ''Dioscorea'' (family Dioscoreaceae) that form edible tubers. Yams are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in many temperate and tropica ...

- cattle ranching,

artisanal fishing Artisanal fishing (or traditional/subsistence fishing) consists of various small-scale, low-technology, low-capital, fishing practices undertaken by individual fishing households (as opposed to commercial fishing). Many of these households are o ...

, local handicrafts and small businesses are the main economic engines of the area. Due to its geographical location, with the sea to the north and a mountain range to the south, Miches has historically lived isolated, which has impacted negatively to economic development. In recent years, improvements have been seen in the roads connecting

Punta Cana Punta Cana is a resort town in the easternmost region of the Dominican Republic. It is part of the Veron–Punta Cana Municipalities of the Dominican Republic, municipal district, in the Salvaleón de Higüey, Higüey municipality of La Altagraci ...

Santa Cruz de El Seibo Santa Cruz del Seibo or El Seibo, is a city and municipality in the El Seibo Province of the Dominican Republic, located in the eastern part of the country. History El Seibo is one of the oldest towns in the country, it was created by the Const ...

and

Sabana de la Mar Sabana de la Mar, usually spelled in English as Savana de la Mar, is a town in the Hato Mayor province of the Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in ...

, which have opened a new channel of communication that favors the diversification of the economy and an incipient development of tourism.

Tourism development

Miches has a great tourism potential. The extension of its beaches, and its irregular coasts creating unique landforms, providing all the means for potential tourism. The area has mangroves, coconut trees, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, caves and tropical forests. The construction of new roads and the announcement of major projects have fostered the development of tourism in Miches, with the appearance of small local businesses (such as restaurants, rental cabins, boat tours, horseback rides on the beach) and the creation of tourism clusters. Miches will be the location of the project Tropicalia, a

sustainable tourism Sustainable tourism is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for economic, social and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences and addressing the needs of host communities. Su ...

and real estate development of Cisneros Real Estate, a division of Cisneros. Tropicalia will entail an investment of US$310 million and will generate around 1,800 jobs. Since 2008, Tropicalia promotes, through Fundación Tropicalia, the sustainable social and economic development of Miches, working in the areas of environment, education, productivity, and socio-cultural advocacy.

Localities

* Sabana de Nisibón

Notable people

Olivia Peguero Olivia Peguero (born 1961) is a Dominican contemporary landscape and botanical artist. Painting most of the year in the Dominican Republic and Florida, she is known for producing all of her studies and the majority of her finished pieces ''en pl ...

, artist

References

External links

The Miches Story – Columbia University
{{El Seibo Province Populated places in El Seibo Province Municipalities of the Dominican Republic