Fires ravage 6,000+ hectares of forests across Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo.- Environment Forest Deputy minister Manuel Serrano on Monday said the various forest fires affected more than 6,000 hectares of wooded land nationwide, and affirmed that the pine forests at Restauracion, in northwestern Dajabon, will take longer to regenerate given the area’s low rainfall.

Quoted by diariolibre.com, the official the fires ravaged several areas at Los Haitises National Park, Loma Miranda, Constanta and Gaspar Hernandez, with smaller blazes at Sierra de Bahoruco National Park.

Serrano said the coniferous forests can recover faster but stressed that the lower vegetation has been virtually wiped out. "In Los Haitises the forest recovers quickly because it is high rainfall, and is a very diverse forest."

He added that in Loma Miranda, the most affected part is the broadleaf forest. "The part of the conifers didn’t suffer so much, it’s a tertiary forest that when it rains it will soon see that it can recover."