This story by Carolina Pichardo originally appeared on Global Voices on November 17, 2025.
When we think of justice, we often picture courts dealing with corruption, theft, and homicide cases, but we rarely consider that those who cut down trees, pollute waterways, or traffic in endangered species are also prosecuted. According to Jhonnatan Manuel Cabrera, head of the Office of Access to Public Information of the Dominican Republic’s Judicial Branch, as of September of this year, 118 cases have been brought to justice for violations of Law 64-00 on Environment and Natural Resources.
This is where a network of three institutions, both state and judicial, comes into play. Their functions, although different, are linked by the common denominator of environmental protection and complement one another in the pursuit of environmental crimes. These crimes, although increasingly frequent, are also being reported more frequently thanks to increased environmental awareness.
According to the DR’s Article 175 of Law 64-00 of the Ministry of Environment, anyone who “damages the national system of protected areas, cuts or destroys trees in protected forest areas and in fragile zones; who hunts, captures or causes the death of species declared to be in danger of extinction or legally protected; who uses explosives, poisons, traps or other instruments or devices against species; who pours toxic and dangerous substances into bodies of water, releases them into the air or deposits them in places not authorised for this purpose, or in authorised places without permission or clandestinely” is committing an environmental crime.
The country’s Ministry of the Environment is not working alone in this fight; it manages the Green Line app, the main channel for citizen communication and reporting of illegal activities that harm the environment. In the same vein, the National Environmental Protection Service (SENPA), a specialised body within the Ministry of Defense, coordinates joint operations with the Ministry of the Environment and the Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for Environmental Protection. This alliance allows the unit to act with legitimacy, legal rigor, and institutional support.
Magistrate Francisco Contreras Núñez, who heads the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office, the National Environmental Protection Service and the Green Line all agree that the most common environmental crimes are indiscriminate logging, noise pollution, hunting, fishing, and trafficking/commercialisation of protected and endangered species; extraction of aggregates without the proper permits, mainly along riverbanks, pollution of rivers, burning of protected areas that often leads to forest fires, the manufacture of charcoal and illegal construction of infrastructure and transport of material without the corresponding environmental permits.
In the five-and-a-half years spanning 2020 to September 2025, as detailed in the request signed by SENPA’s Director of Operations Erwin Rommel Vargas González, 9,350 crimes were listed for tree felling and 2,620 for makeshift dumps and water pollution. Between 2023 and mid-2025, the Ministry of Environment seized 63,613 unidentified units of sand, 16,449 sacks of coal, and 416,087 pieces of wood. Additionally, in the first quarter of 2025, 647 pounds of parrotfish — the sale of which is prohibited — were seized, as well as 40 pounds of other fish. Official sources confirmed that as of September 22, SENPA had led at least 165,514 environmental operations between 2020 and mid-2025, with 2024 being a bumper year that accounted for 22 percent of the total.
In the first six months of 2025, there were roughly 10,940 security and control patrols, and 1,161 vehicles were seized. The materials they contained — wood, coal, tools, and the vehicles themselves — were handed over to the appropriate authorities for evaluation, legal disposal, or reuse in institutional programmes, with everything being documented transparently and in accordance with the law. Noise pollution is also considered an environmental crime.
Green Line, meanwhile, indicated that the largest number of environmental complaints came from the National District, Santo Domingo, Santiago, Dajabón, and La Altagracia.
The Ministry of the Environment’s Directorate of Social Participation shared that in 2023, the main environmental complaint was for air pollution, with 664 cases. In 202, the trend was repeated, this time with 576 complaints. However, as of October 15, 2025, the most frequently reported type of offence nationwide was solid waste pollution from farms — pigsties, chicken coops — with 308 cases. Green Line attributes these figures to the growth of unregulated agricultural activities, especially in rural areas where livestock farming exists without adequate waste management systems.
The expansion of agricultural and urban settlements also puts pressure on forested areas — people log for land use or firewood, and the lack of emissions control from workshops, ovens, and small industries increases the number of complaints about air pollution. There is also “a sustained trend in reports of illegal logging and air pollution, the latter mainly associated with the operation of power plants, industrial chimneys and informal workshops, which reflects a greater public awareness of deforestation and air quality issues,” according to Green Line.
Green Line allows citizens to report any environmental crime directly and accessibly, thus promoting their participation in the conservation, protection and improvement of the environment and natural resources. By connecting citizens with the state system that manages these illegal activities, it strengthens collaboration in defence of the DR’s natural heritage. Head office-based app operators have liaisons in provincial offices across the country, who are responsible for receiving complaints in person, by phone, via WhatsApp, and from Green Line’s webpage and social media accounts.
These liaisons coordinate with technicians in the provinces, who then conduct surveys and follow up on complaints within their respective areas. Each complaint takes anywhere from 10–15 business days to be processed, which is also the timeframe for the initial site visit. Timeframes vary, however, depending on the type of complaint and whether it requires further investigation.
Citizens often provide their name and contact information, but they also have the option of keeping their complaint confidential. The app allows users to submit completely anonymous reports and check their status using a unique code. In situations involving conflicts that directly affect the complainant, the ministry aims to establish contact in a controlled and respectful manner. Once a violation is confirmed, a report of the findings is sent to the Directorate of Inspection as a complex case, to which the corresponding sanctions are applied in accordance with current regulations.
In certain cases, like smoke emissions from power plants or other specified illegal activities, a period for readjustment is granted. Once this deadline has passed, a new inspection is carried out to verify that the indicated measures have been implemented within the established timeframe. If compliance is confirmed, the case is closed; otherwise, the corresponding sanctions are applied and the process comes to an end.
On July 7, 2025, community organisations and concerned citizens publicly denounced the alleged systematic destruction of sea turtle nests and endangered species, attributed to the operations of the Hotel Sirenis and the Matute Hotel Group, in the tourist area of Uvero Alto in La Altagracia.
The hotel allegedly used heavy machinery to collect sargassum on the beach shore without proper authorisation from the environmental authorities, causing the destruction of sea turtle nests, including the Hawksbill species, by crushing the buried eggs. Their actions also caused irreversible damage to the coastal ecosystem, affecting the fauna and natural dynamics of the beach, as well as posing a risk to the environmental balance of the coast through the extraction and displacement of sand, which aggravates erosion.
The Environmental Law, as well as the technical provisions issued by the Vice Ministry of Coastal and Marine Resources, prohibit the use of heavy machinery within the high tide zone. They also stipulate that sargassum collection must be carried out only with specialised equipment, and strictly regulate the schedules, methodologies and areas of intervention in sensitive areas. The actions of the hotel were further compounded by the absence of an accredited environmental manager, which represented a direct threat to the integrity of coastal and marine ecosystems.
Green Line recommended the initiation of an administrative sanction process according to the seriousness of the facts verified; the stoppage of activities until a coastal environmental remediation plan was presented, and — because of the impact on areas of high ecological vulnerability — due process for the restoration of the affected area was exhausted, and the case referred to the Vice Ministry of Coastal and Marine Resources and the Directorate of Biodiversity.
In another case, the trade and possession of parrotfish and conch in a closed period was reported in a restaurant called Pescadería L&R. A technical commission from the Environment Department went to the site on September 3, where they verified that both species were being sold in violation of Decrees 281-23 and 266-25 — 28 pounds of parrotfish and 15 pounds of conch were seized, commercial activities were halted, and the establishment temporarily closed. The case was referred to the Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for due judicial processing, and the report sent to the ministry’s legal directorate.
Another incident, which happened in February 2025, involved environmental pollution in the Río Verde after someone was caught dumping contaminated water into the river. According to the community report, the individual fled the scene after being confronted by local residents. During the inspection, the technical team discovered a pig farm with a total population of 1,154 fattening pigs without the presence of mothers or sires, as its production model was established exclusively for fattening. The enterprise was located in a building constructed with blocks, cyclone mesh and wood, with a zinc roof. Hygiene was poor because of the presence of internal puddles and waste accumulation.
While they also noticed a biodigester system with an approximate area of 290 m², intended for wastewater and excreta management, multiple signs of inoperability were identified, including broken pipes, the biodigester’s perforated plastic dome, the methane burner turned off, and the accumulation of solid matter in the outlet pipe. The biodigester was only receiving wastewater from the front building; the rear was discharging its water through a channel directly onto the adjacent land, which borders the course of the river.
This combination of poor wastewater management and inadequate handling of pig waste created unsanitary conditions and polluted discharge into the river. This is in violation of Article 82 of the DR’s Environmental Law, which “prohibits the dumping of polluting substances or waste into soils, rivers, lakes, lagoons, streams, reservoirs, the sea and any other body or course of water.” To make matters worse, the pig farm did not have valid environmental authorisation, in violation of Article 40 of the same law, which requires prior environmental approval for operations with potential ecological impact.
Green Line’s recommendations included immediately halting the discharge of the farm’s wastewater into the Río Verde or any other water source; applying an administrative sanction proportional to the damage caused to the river, soil, and subsoil; granting a period of 30 working days for the comprehensive correction of the excreta management system and the proper treatment of wastewater and constructing a rainwater channeling system that prevents it mixing with contaminated or untreated water.
SENPA, which has 305 active agents spread across 12 operational regions, is trained in environmental legislation, human rights, patrolling techniques, first aid, wildlife and flora management, use of surveillance technologies, report writing, and proportional use of force.
The agency’s mission is to protect the country’s environment and natural resources through the monitoring, prevention and prosecution of environmental crimes, to guarantee compliance with the law and maintain the ecological well-being of the nation. Environmental crime investigations are conducted through patrols, citizen reports, satellite monitoring, environmental intelligence, and joint operations with other agencies, based on technical evidence, geo-referencing, and legal follow-up.
SENPA also conducts operations to prevent wildlife trafficking, rescues animals in danger of extinction, collaborates with conservation centres, monitors critical habitats, and supports protection campaigns for emblematic species such as the solenodon and the hawksbill turtle. Some of its most outstanding operations have dismantled networks of illegal logging, trafficking of species, and irregular occupations in protected areas.
By employing new technologies like drones, communication radios and mobile applications for environmental monitoring, patrols can be carried out faster, more accurately and more efficiently, but just as technology can be used for good, there are also new mechanisms designed to accommodate the breaking of environmental laws. Drones, for instance, have been used for illegal fishing and in the digital trade of wild species.
When an offender is captured, he is taken into custody, respecting his fundamental rights. After he is placed at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor, the case is documented, and the judicial process begins. As a technical body, SENPA assists with presenting evidence and monitoring the case file. It also operates the National School of Environmental Protection (ENPA), primarily for its own members, but through which it also offers specialised training to staff from other environmental agencies. Its curriculum includes environmental legislation, patrolling techniques, conflict management, ecological education, and environmental training.
SENPA also supports reforestation days, river and beach clean-ups, environmental education in schools, and community awareness campaigns, collaborating with the Ministry of Environment to restore degraded ecosystems. In the first half of the year, they led 40 reforestation days in which 54,440 trees were planted, and 1,399 participants took part. Its volunteer programmes and community brigades, as well as its partnerships with local organisations, allow citizens to get involved in environmental education, reforestation, and participatory monitoring.
According to the Office of Access to Public Information, between 2020 and September 2025 — save for the year 2023, for which there is no recorded data — the Dominican judiciary processed 575 cases for violation of Law 64-00 on Environment and Natural Resources. During the same time period, 219 people were convicted for crimes related to environmental law violations.
The website of the Attorney General’s Office detailed some of these cases. In February 2022, for example, a two-million-peso bond was imposed on Agroforestal Macapi for allegedly removing material and causing forest damage in an area of San José de Ocoa. Four months later, the Sixth Court of Instruction of the National District sentenced two people to a year of suspended imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 pesos for illegally extracting and transporting sand. To compensate for the damage, the defendants had to reforest the Nizao River basin by planting 100 trees of different species within 25 days.
Authorities also ordered the closure of a pig farm for polluting the waters of the Cacique River in Moca. The manager was given a one-year suspended sentence in exchange for planting 1,000 trees and giving talks to the community about environmental pollution.
Other measures include a six-month suspended prison sentence for three men for extracting caliche without an environmental permit. They had to plant 200 trees in the Yaguasa River basin and pay a fine of three minimum wages, totaling 30,000 pesos. For extracting construction aggregates without a permit, another man had to attend 50 talks at the environmental ministry and perform 50 hours of community service.
Not all cases involve the extraction or destruction of trees. Crimes against wildlife have also been reported, like the case of two people in Pedernales trafficking eight baby parrots, deemed a protected species.
One of the country’s most high-profile environmental cases took place in October 2024, when the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office in the province of Espaillat obtained a one-year suspended prison sentence and the payment of 25 million pesos in state compensation by businessman Andrés Avelino Sarante Castillo and his company Endy Agroindustria, for dumping solid waste and contaminated water into the Licey River.
Article 165 of Law 64-00 on the Environment speaks about the creation of the Office of the Attorney for the Defense of the Environment and Natural Resources, derived from the Attorney General's Office , which has among its powers “to exercise the actions and representation of the public interest, as a procedural party, in all those trials for violation of this law and other complementary legal provisions.”
Article 165 of Law 64-00 on the Environment speaks about the creation of the Office of the Attorney for the Defense of the Environment and Natural Resources. Derived from the Attorney General’s Office, it retains the power “to exercise the actions and representation of the public interest, as a procedural party, in all those trials for violation of this law and other complementary legal provisions.” In an interview, Magistrate Contreras Núñez confirmed that the entity comprises 35 members of the public ministry and has 20 offices nationwide.
The Attorney General’s Office collaborates with various stakeholders, such as the Environmental Commission of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo and the Academy of Sciences, from whom they request technical reports. “In many cases,” Contreras Núñez explained, “we exhaust the alternative solutions established by the Dominican Procedural Code […] in other cases, we reach a settlement; the defendants remain subject to technical and economic obligations.” These often include financial payments and remediation of the affected areas.
On occasion, cases wind up in court, like the case against SAENA Investments for the indiscriminate felling of mangroves in the coastal area of Uvero Alto, and the one against the Villa Palmeras tourism project, which carried out construction within 60 metres of the high tide line.
The office’s triumphs include the prosecution of Las Cuevas del Pomier for illegal extraction of aggregate, and the recovery of Los Haitises National Park and Loma Quita Espuela, both of which were being adversely affected by commercial operations.
Imposed penalties are typically anywhere from six days to three years of imprisonment, while fines range from 25 percent of the minimum wage to 10,000 times the minimum wage. Additional penalties may include the confiscation of materials, revocation of permits, and more. Like SENPA and Green Line, the Attorney General’s Office also receives complaints from communities and citizens, mostly through social networks, via telephone or personal channels. “In cases of personal complaints,” Contreras Núñez said, “citizens go to the different specialised departments; in remote cases, there is staff to attend to them and they are referred to the members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to begin the investigation processes.” He stressed that all complainants have the support of the Public Prosecutor’s Office as well as the country’s military corps.
Although there has been significant progress, there is still room for improvement. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, for instance, pointed out an urgent need for additional financial and human resources, and suggested the creation of an environmental police force that could carry out preventative measures as well as work with the Public Prosecutor’s Office on environmental crimes.
Stating that the prosecution of environmental crimes must continue to be strengthened, he urged the Attorney General’s Office to create a technical unit composed of professional environmental experts — biologists, surveyors, chemists, geographers, etc. — to prepare technical reports in environmental crime cases, thereby allowing the Public Prosecutor’s Office to bring cases to court more efficiently.
Meanwhile, Green Line plans to strengthen its multi-channel service, ensuring the solid, coordinated and resilient operation of all environmental complaint channels, guaranteeing maximum accessibility and reliability, and ensuring agile and consistent response times.
Naturally, continuous training of staff responsible for handling complaints would improve the quality of service, infusing it with a focus on ethics, transparency and respectful treatment of users. There are also suggestions to make the registration and records system more robust in order to monitor the progress of each environmental complaint and ensure a response within a maximum of 15 days, while keeping the complainant informed of the status.
Raising public awareness through increased communication and education campaigns that promote citizen participation and commitment to environmental protection would also go a long way and quite likely result in more widespread use of Green Line as “an agile, transparent and efficient tool for environmental complaints, promoting active citizen participation and contributing to the conservation and restoration of the environment in the country.” [VP]
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