Rainforest of the Sea: Coral Gardening Awareness Park
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
As a way to contribute to the themed entertainment design industry and support an actual conservation program in my hometown, I have selected to focus on the current developments that involve the coral reefs restoration in the Dominican Republic. Rainforest of the Sea, as this project has been named, aims to expand the types of entertainment in the tourist areas of this Caribbean destination. Its intent is making a significant, educational, and entertaining experience, not only for locals, but for the numerous international visitors as well.
By instilling the importance of coral reef conservation in a more engaging method, this awareness park would allow families to interact with the ecosystem's cycles and the different ways men can help in its preservation. It would include interactive attractions that will entertain and inform at the same time, simulating the process of coral gardening and the coral habitat itself. It's an 'awareness park' because its primary goal is to bring to people the current characteristics of the reefs and guide guests to understand the process to assist corals to their optimal conditions. More than just a space to understand a habitat, it is a project where users will collaborate in the process to restore the environment. It would use themed entertainment design to educate (as a museum), to show and habitat (as a zoo or aquarium) and to entertain (as a park).
