The List of Endangered, Threatened or Protected Species of Fauna in the Dominican Republic (Red List) is now official. It seeks to contribute to the conservation of animal species in the country, as well as their recovery and protection.
Resolution 0037-2021 reinstates its validity. The resolution restores the government endorsement of the Red List of endangered species that had been repealed in 2019 by Resolution 0029, issued during the Medina administration by then Minister Angel Estevez.
“Being a contracting party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Dominican Republic seeks to counteract the adverse effects that place our species in situations of threat, assigning them categories that, based on scientific knowledge, apply the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),” said Minister Orlando Jorge Mera.
The new resolution establishes that the listed species will be subject to a rigorous control and protection mechanism in situ and ex situ to guarantee their recovery and conservation according to special laws and international conventions to which the Dominican state is a contracting party.
It also provides for the prohibition of hunting, fishing, capture, harassment, mistreatment, death, trafficking, import, export, trade, manufacture or manufacture of handicrafts of these species and / or illegal possession of the same.
The species included in the Red List are classified as Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable. Within this classification, the country applies the criteria of the International Union for Conservation Union (IUCN), which identifies 434 threatened species, distributed into 69 Critically Endangered, 95 Endangered and 260 Vulnerable.
Among the animals included in the list are the tiger shark, catshark, eel, eight types of parrotfish, Hispaniolan crested toad, Barahona rock frog, two types of boas, Green, Hawksbill and Tinglar turtles, as well as the Creole duck, ash pigeon, mangrove canary, parrot, solenodon, Antillean manatee, among others.
The Ministry of Environment also reinstates the Red List of Threatened Plants prepared by the National Botanical Garden, in 2016.
The Ministry of Environment says the Red List will be reviewed and updated at least every 10 years by the Ministry of Environment and other public and private institutions, key stakeholders, and scientific experts in the field.
Definition of categories
Critically Endangered: A taxon or species is critically endangered when it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future or whose survival is unlikely if the causal factors continue to operate.
Endangered: A species is Endangered when it is not listed as Critically Endangered, but faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.
Vulnerable: A taxon or species is Vulnerable when it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium term, if causal factors continue to operate such as extensive habitat reduction or other environmental disturbances.
Read more in Spanish:
Ministry of Environment
The Red List
12 November 2021