Conservation of biological diversity in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

The Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola has the highest degree of biological diversity in the Caribbean. The country's wildlife service (Departamento de Vida Silvestre) carried out investigations at ecosystem and – for the vertebrate fauna – at species level in order to identify gaps in the representation of ecosystems within the nation's protected area system. As a result of this exercise 15 new areas have been proposed for protected status. The information presented here is a summary of the report «La Diversidad Biológica de la República Dominicana», published by SEA/Departamento de Vida Silvestre in December 1990.