Academy of Sciences rejects proposal to reduce protected boundaries of Las Calderas Dunes

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Academy of Sciences strongly rejected Senator Julio Fulcar’s proposal to reduce the boundaries of the Las Calderas Dunes Natural Monument in Peravia. Fulcar requested that President Luis Abinader allow occupations within the protected area to be regulated, but the Academy warned that such a measure would directly violate environmental laws and the Constitution.

Through its Natural Sciences and Environment Commission, the institution expressed “deep concern,” recalling that the dunes have been legally protected since 1996 under Law 202-04 on Protected Areas, Law 64-00 on the Environment, and Article 15 of the Constitution. It stressed that any modification to their limits requires approval by two-thirds of Congress, a safeguard meant to protect the integrity of the National System of Protected Areas.

The Academy also highlighted that a management plan was presented in 2024 with the Ministry of the Environment, which calls for the removal of illegal lots and alternative housing solutions for the Las Calderas community, while preventing real estate mafias from exploiting the area. It warned that accepting Fulcar’s proposal would legitimize illegal occupations, create a dangerous precedent, and undermine the inalienable and non-transferable nature of dune lands. The Academy reaffirmed the dunes’ importance as a vital natural and cultural heritage, providing key ecosystem services for the country’s well-being.