The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MMARN), with the support of members of the State’s military forces, ordered increased vigilance in Las Dunas de las Calderas Natural Monument.
The Vice-Ministry of Protected Areas and Biodiversity informed that, by order of Minister Miguel Ceara Hatton, “patrols and surveillance have been reinforced and increased” in the area.
He indicated that, in addition to the park guards, the National Environmental Protection Service (Senpa) and a fixed force of military personnel designated to MMARN are involved in patrolling the protected area.
Armed military force
A military force from the RD Navy is also present in the patrols, “all of them equipped with the necessary means of mobility.
He explained that this is a force with sufficient personnel and resources to guarantee security, patrolling and surveillance of the natural monument.
He recalled that with an investment of DR 18.9 million, the construction of seven new infrastructures in Las Dunas is underway, including: 1 new sentry box and ticket booth, 1 new surveillance and protection center, 2 new inspection points and 3 new protection and surveillance towers.
The Vice-Ministry of Protected Areas is confident that next week the Co-Management Committee of Dunas de las Calderas Natural Monument will be finalized, which should include representatives from public and private institutions interested in participating in the shared management agreement for this important protected area.
Condemn men who cut down
MMARN’s Legal Department recently reported that it filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office seeking a three-year prison sentence for two men accused of logging and burning in the buffer zone of Las Dunas.
In the complaint filed with the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Defense of the Environment and Natural Resources (Proedemaren), the ministry is a civil plaintiff against Estervino Vizcaino Guerrero and Fausto Vizcaino Rodríguez, who are responsible for cutting down and burning trees in the buffer zone of the natural monument.
It also requests the maximum penalty provided by law, which is 3 years of correctional imprisonment, according to numeral 1 of Article 183 of Law 64-00, on Environment and Natural Resources.
Regarding the civil action, the institution requests that the accused be ordered to pay 500,000 pesos.
Environment accused the defendants of violating the provisions established in Articles 66 and 67 of the Constitution of the Republic, as well as 138, 174, 175 and 183 of Law 64-00.
Source: Presidencia.gob.do
Know More: Nature
