Dominican Republic  
  

 


  • Flora and Fauna - Dominican Republic  http://www.dominicanrepublic.com/Tourism/english/geography/flora_fauna.htm There are 16 national parks, nine natural monuments and six scientific reserves in the Dominican Republic. The total number of protected areas (including panoramic routes, recreational areas and ecological corridors) is 67. All are under the control of the Dirección Nacional de Parques. Armando Bermúdez and José del Carmen Ramírez, both containing pine forests and mountains in the Cordillera Central are the only remaining areas of extensive forest in the Republic; it is estimated that since the arrival of Columbus, two-thirds of the virgin forest has been destroyed. The reasons for the loss are fire and the establishment of smallholdings by landless peasants. By setting up these parks the gloomy prediction of 1973, that all the Dominican Republic’s forest would vanish by 1990, has been avoided. In addition, a pilot reforestation project has been started near San José de las Matas, the Plan Sierra.
  • Birding in Dominican Republic  
    http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/cardominicanreepublic.htm     by Eladio Fernandez. Most people ignore the fact that the Dominican Republic (DR) has 300 recorded bird species, which include 27 endemics and a number of Caribbean specialties. In addition, its relative proximity to United States and the rest of the Caribbean Islands makes the DR an ideal destination for birders. 
  • Forests, Grasslands, and Drylands-- Dominican Republic http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/for_cou_214.pdf 
  • Dominican Republic Deforestation Rates and Related Forestry Figures
     http://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/2000/Dominican_Republic.htm 28.4% —or about 1,376,000 hectares—of Dominican Republic is forested. Change in Forest Cover: Between 1990 and 2000, Dominican Republic had no significant change or no reported in forest cover. Biodiversity and Protected Areas: Dominican Rep has some 415 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Of these, 14.5% are endemic, meaning they exist in no other country, and 14.9% are threatened. Dominican Rep is home to at least 5657 species of vascular plants, of which 31.8% are endemic. 22.9% of Dominican Rep is protected under IUCN categories I-V. 
  • The Political and Socio-Economic Factors Causing Forest Degradation in the Dominican Republic, 1993, Helmut Dotzauer.  http://www.odi.org.uk/fpeg/publications/rdfn/16/rdfn-16d.pdf 
    Almost all the forest in the Dominican Republic was cleared in the twentieth century, first by logging companies, until the sawmills were closed in 1967, and then by slash-and-burn agriculture. This paper examined the underlying socio-economic causes of the relentless deforestation, identifying several key factors: population growth, a strong urban bias in government investment, inappropriate, inadequate and confused agricultural and forestry policy, and an extremely inequitable distribution of land. Only 50 % of rural people owned land and 40 % lived below the poverty line. Meanwhile the government undervalued the contribution of forests to the national economy and failed to provide policies that would encourage rural people to maintain trees. 
  • Highland Ecosystems of the Dominican Republic   http://www.nature.org/initiatives/fire/files/dr_fire_assessment_english.pdf  During 7–14 July 2003, a team of fire management and fire ecology experts visited Madre de las Aguas Conservation Area (Ebano Verde Scientific Reserve, Juan B. Pérez Rancier National Park) and Sierra de Bahoruco the Hispaniolan pine forest ecosystem, and associated savannas and cloud forests, in the Dominican Republic.
  • The Nature Conservancy in the Dominican Republic http://www.nature.org/wherewework/caribbean/dominicanrepublic/ Some 5,600 plant species are found in the Dominican Republic as well as 20 land mammal species and 303 bird species.
  • The Nature Conservancy in the Dominican Republic - Parque Nacional del Este   http://www.nature.org/wherewework/caribbean/dominicanrepublic/work/art8532.html This intact coastal ecosystem provides prime habitat for hundreds of species of plants, birds, fish and other marine animals.