Environment and Judiciary agree to strengthen legal security in protected areas

Santo Domingo.- In order to ensure the preservation of the environment, guarantee legal security and the registration effectiveness of the country's protected areas, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Judicial Council signed an inter-institutional cooperation agreement. The Ministry of Environment, in the agreement, commits to providing updated and consolidated information on the delimitations of protected areas and buffer zones, as well as other areas directly linked to the preservation of the environment and natural resources, for the use of the Real Estate Registry bodies. “This agreement reaffirms our commitment to protect protected areas and ensure that every meter of the country's natural heritage is correctly delimited and under legal security. Working together with the Judiciary strengthens transparency, registry efficiency, and the effective defense of our natural resources,” said Paíno Henríquez, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. In addition, the Ministry of Environment will be in charge of submitting the files for the titling of protected areas, duly identified and with mention of registered properties that existed within them prior to the sectoral law, supporting the implementation of sustainability programs and good environmental practices in the dependencies of the Judiciary. While the Judicial Council undertakes to provide, through the bodies of the Real Estate Registry, legal assistance and technically support the cadastral work required for the establishment and updating of perimeters, and subsequent determination of the lands belonging to the Dominican State in protected areas and their buffer zones.

Also, support the processes of title and registration of protected areas, enable accessible IT tools for both parties, in order to visualize in real time the status of the files and provide registration and cadastral information, among other aspects. Both parties agree and undertake to respect, abide by, comply with, and submit to all regulations regarding the information that will be provided to them, especially those relating to public interest, national security, and those that merit confidentiality criteria. Likewise, they agree to maintain the integrity of the information exchanged and it will be forbidden to copy, assign, sell, lend, transfer for consideration or free of charge to third parties the information provided. The agreement, which will last for 4 years. The agreement was signed by Paíno Henríquez, Minister of Environment; by Jhonattan Toribio, General Director of Administration and Judicial Career of the Judiciary, and Ricardo Noboa, General Administrator of the Real Estate Registry. It is recalled that, in February 2021, the parties signed the collaboration agreement with the aim of exchanging available resources from their respective legal attributions, in order to ensure the preservation of the environment, for a period of four years.