Jaragua National Park

Jaragua National Park

The Jaragua National Park covers the south-western part of the country, south of the Barahona River, and includes the islands of Beata and Alto Velo and the cays of Los Frailes and Piedra Negra. The marine-terrestrial protected area is the Dominican Republic's largest area, covering some 1,543 km2 of surface between marine, island, estuarine, lake and land areas. The park's marine area covers 900 km2. The protected area has two major landforms. One group is the flat coastal strips at sea level, which are wetlands along the south-west coastline, about 20 km long, and include the Bucan de Base lagoons and saltwater basins, and the lagoons of Oviedo and Rabiza. Permanent lagoons in this band are Puerto en Medio, Manuel Matos, Salada and Salado de Bucan de Base. Additional temporary lagoons are the Salado de Cotinilla, which only has water during the rainy season. The second group is composed of tertiary calcareous coral formations, which form stepped platforms, depressions, hills and low hills. The highest hills can reach 300 m above sea level, the highest point being Punta del Cerro at 334 m. The Jaragua National Park is of outstanding value as a world heritage site, as it contains unique terrestrial, coastal, marine and wetland ecosystems on the island of Santo Domingo, which are of great importance in the Caribbean due to their physical and biological characteristics, high endemism and excellent conservation status.