On occasion of the celebration of Earth Day, the Ministry of the Environment presented findings of the 2012 Land Use Study. The analysis of satellite images shows that the Dominican Republic has a total area of 48,230 square kilometers; that is less than the 48,442 square kilometers that has been traditionally reported as the total area of the country. As reported in Diario Libre, Perez explained that the reduction in the total surface area of the Dominican Republic is due to transformations of landforms in coastal areas caused by natural phenomenon.
The results were presented by Mariana Perez, the director of environmental information at the Ministry of the Environment at an event held at the UASD, the state university. Perez reported that forest cover in the Dominican Republic has actually increased from 32.90% of the total area in 2003 to 39.2% of the country at present. This means that forests cover close to 19,000 square kilometers of the national territory. With this increase the forested area, the country has surpassed the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for percent forested area (35%), a full three years ahead of the target date of 2015.
Water bodies nationwide also increased from 0.74% of the total surface in 2003 to 1.1% in 2012. Perez said this increase in surface water is mainly due to the increase in the size of the Enriquillo Lake.
The study also revealed that while in 2003, farming represented 38% of the national land use, by 2012, this had been reduced to 35%, or 16,959 square kilometers. Urban areas increased from 1.46% of the national land surface to 2.4%, or 1,133.30 square kilometers.
http://www.diariolibre.com/ecos/2014/04/23/i578131_reas-uso-agrcola-reducen-repblica-dominicana-mientras-aumentan-las-urbanas.html