Santo Domingo – The Dominican government has formally elevated the campaign against environmental destruction to a matter of supreme national importance and long-term strategic priority via Decree 615-26, rolling out a sweeping set of enhanced measures to crack down on deliberate attacks on the country’s national parks and other irreplaceable natural assets.
During an official ceremony unveiling the new policy at the National Palace, President Luis Abinader issued a clear warning that any individual involved in the destruction or systematic degradation of the nation’s protected natural areas will face far stricter enforcement and aggressive criminal prosecution – a standard that applies equally to Dominican citizens and foreign nationals.
Addressing longstanding gaps in the protection of the country’s ecological heritage, Abinader noted that for generations, Dominican national parks have operated without adequate legal backing or state enforcement to safeguard them from exploitation. When his administration took office, he explained, a review uncovered a startling gap: many of the country’s designated protected areas were not even formally registered as state-owned property under Dominican law. To remedy this vulnerability, a nationwide land titling initiative is currently underway to formalize state ownership of all protected natural zones.
The president also drew a direct connection between recent large-scale wildfire events, including blazes that swept through Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, and illegal activities that erode fragile ecosystems. Beyond damaging biodiversity, these intentional acts put critical public resources – including drinking water supplies and the foundation of the country’s food security – at severe risk, he added.
To address weaknesses in outdated legal frameworks that previously allowed environmental offenders to avoid meaningful punishment, the new decree mandates that authorities apply existing statutes under the nation’s updated Penal Code with far greater rigor. Under the enhanced rules, the most severe offenses against protected national parklands can carry prison sentences ranging from 20 to 30 years, among the harshest penalties for environmental crime in the region.
The executive order also assigns formal responsibilities to multiple government agencies: the Dominican Armed Forces, General Directorate of Migration, and national intelligence bodies are all directed to ramp up coordinated efforts to prevent, investigate, and prosecute all parties involved in environmental destruction – including third parties that finance, incite, or facilitate these illegal acts.
The decree explicitly prioritizes the prevention, early detection, and thorough investigation of acts classified as environmental terrorism, and extends special enhanced protection to a broad range of critical ecological infrastructure: protected wilderness areas, major watersheds, dams, water reservoirs, coastal mangrove forests, inland wetlands, and the source rivers that supply most of the country’s drinking water.
It further requires the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Environment, National Police, and General Directorate of Migration to collaborate on developing a unified National Policy for Prevention and Combat, specifically focused on the growing threat of intentionally set forest fires and targeted attacks on water and energy infrastructure.
Under the new rules, any documented attack on the Dominican Republic’s environmental heritage must be immediately referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for fast-track criminal prosecution, eliminating procedural delays that previously slowed enforcement. To expand public participation in crackdown, the decree also creates dedicated digital technological platforms and confidential anonymous reporting systems, enabling ordinary citizens to share tips about environmental crime with authorities while protecting the identity and safety of people who cooperate in good faith.