
The Protected Areas of the Dominican Republic are determined areas defined by the Dominican State subject to a legal and institutional framework designed to guarantee the conservation of its particularities and environmental and cultural riches. Among its protected areas is the National Park of the East, where the natural pool and the Saona Island are located.
Without these protected areas, unfortunately, they would not respect and take care of both the environment and the living beings that inhabit them. This care is fundamental among many other things so that there remains a tourist interest in the beauty of some of the most beautiful places on the island.
East National Park
The National Park of the East is located in the east of the Island, in the Province of La Altagracia, and has areas of the mainland, maritime zone and Isla Saona. It has an area of 430 square kilometers. The land is flat with several areas where virgin rocks are found. The subsoil has high porosity, so there are no rivers or streams. Its average annual temperature is 26.5 ℃, with fluvial precipitation of 1300 millimeters per year. The vegetation is abundant with extensive forests, where you can find: the Guayiga, the Gopey, almacigo, bayahonda, mahogany, grigri, vera, coconut, beach grape, coconut, etc.
Saona Island
Its fauna is rich, because it has 112 species of birds, some of them endemic in the Caribbean, such as the coronary dove, the bubi, the owl, the pigeon, the tijereta and the pelican. Among its mammalian fauna we have the Saledonodon, the Jutía, and the Marine Mammals, the Manatí and the Dolphin. There are also turtles and rhinoceros iguanas. The sand of its main beaches, Bayahibe and Isla Saona, is white and very thin.