Cerros de Chacuey

Cerros de Chacuey is a Forest Reserve located in Dajabón Province in the extreme northwest of the Dominican Republic, near the border with Haiti. The reserve protects a series of hills (cerros) in the Chacuey watershed, an area of dry and seasonally dry tropical forest that has experienced significant deforestation across the region. The Forest Reserve designation is aimed at protecting watershed functions, preventing soil erosion, and conserving remnant native forest on the slopes above the agricultural lowlands of the Dajabón River valley.^[1] The area occupies a strategic position in the border region where forest management has cross-border hydrological implications for both the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

The dry forest and scrub woodland of Cerros de Chacuey support a fauna typical of northwestern Hispaniola's semiarid zone. Hispaniolan boa (Chilabothrus strigilatus), the island's largest snake, is found in rocky terrain and forest patches. The Hispaniolan woodpecker (Melanerpes striatus) and palmchat (Dulus dominicus) are common year-round residents. White-winged dove (Zenaida asiatica) and mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) are abundant in scrub habitats. Several Anolis lizard species endemic to Hispaniola occupy different microhabitats across the hillslopes. American kestrel (Falco sparverius), loggerhead kingbird (Tyrannus caudifasciatus), and Hispaniolan oriole (Icterus dominicensis) are regularly encountered. The reserve's seasonal streams support freshwater fish of the Dajabón drainage.

The vegetation of Cerros de Chacuey reflects the semiarid to subhumid conditions of northwestern Dominican Republic, with dry tropical forest and scrub predominating. Characteristic tree species include bayahonda (Prosopis juliflora), turpentine tree (Bursera simaruba), and various species of acacia. Columnar cacti (Lemaireocereus spp., Melocactus spp.) are conspicuous in the drier rocky slopes. Where forest cover has been partially maintained, a more diverse assemblage including guazuma (Guazuma ulmifolia), jobo (Spondias mombin), and mahoe (Hibiscus elatus) occupies moister north-facing slopes. The slopes retain thin, erodible soils under the forest canopy; deforested areas quickly develop lateritic crusts that impede natural regeneration.

Dajabón Province lies within the northern Cibao Valley geologic zone, where Cenozoic sedimentary rocks — predominantly marine limestones, marls, and conglomerates of Miocene through Pliocene age — have been gently folded and faulted along northwest-trending structural lineaments. The Cerros de Chacuey represent low hills formed by differential erosion of more resistant limestone or conglomerate layers, rising above the surrounding alluvial lowlands of the Dajabón River system. Soils on the hillslopes are thin and susceptible to erosion when vegetation is removed. The Dajabón River, which forms the border with Haiti in this section, carries sediment loads that reflect watershed deforestation on both sides of the border.

Dajabón Province has a semiarid tropical climate, receiving approximately 800 to 1,100 millimeters of annual precipitation concentrated in the May-to-June and September-to-October wet periods. The dry season from November through April can be pronounced, with vegetation adopting a deciduous or semi-deciduous character in response to moisture stress. Mean annual temperatures average 26 to 28 degrees Celsius, with the lowland valley consistently hotter than the cerro slopes. The northwest of the Dominican Republic lies in the rain shadow of the Cordillera Central, which intercepts Atlantic moisture. Periodic droughts, associated with La Niña conditions in the Caribbean, can be severe. The area receives occasional impacts from Atlantic tropical storms during the June-to-November hurricane season.

The Dajabón border region has been shaped by centuries of complex Dominican-Haitian interaction, including periods of conflict, migration, and trade. The Chacuey area is associated with the Dajabón River massacre of October 1937 (the Parsley Massacre), in which the Trujillo regime ordered the killing of thousands of Haitians living on the Dominican side of the border — one of the worst atrocities of 20th-century Caribbean history.^[2] The area's agricultural economy has historically centered on subsistence farming, cattle ranching, and border trade. Forest cover on the Cerros de Chacuey was reduced through charcoal production and land clearing for grazing, a process that accelerated during the 20th century as population pressures increased.

Cerros de Chacuey was designated a Forest Reserve under Dominican environmental law as part of efforts to protect the remaining forest cover and watershed functions of the hills above the Dajabón agricultural plain.^[1] The Forest Reserve category in the Dominican protected areas system allows for sustainable multiple-use management, including regulated timber extraction and watershed protection activities. MIMARENA's regional office in Dajabón oversees management. The reserve is part of the broader northwest Dominican Republic protected areas network that includes the Sierra de Monte Cristi National Park and the Montecristi Biosphere Reserve. International interest in cross-border watershed management with Haiti has brought attention to the reserve.

Cerros de Chacuey is a lightly visited protected area that rewards nature enthusiasts with authentic encounters in the dry forest ecosystem of northwestern Hispaniola. Hiking on informal trails through the cerros offers birdwatching for Hispaniolan endemic species and the opportunity to observe dry-forest botanical diversity including cacti, bromeliads, and native trees. The town of Dajabón, just 2 kilometers from the Haitian border, offers the spectacle of the bi-weekly binational market (Monday and Friday), one of the largest open-air markets in the Caribbean, drawing thousands of Haitian and Dominican traders. The Dajabón River borderlands provide historical and cultural context that complements the natural attractions of the reserve.

Dajabón town serves as the base for visiting the reserve, with modest hotels and restaurants. Dajabón is reached by road from Santiago (approximately 90 kilometers) or from Monte Cristi (approximately 40 kilometers to the west). There is no formal visitor infrastructure within the Forest Reserve — no marked trails, visitor center, or entry facilities. Local guides can be arranged in Dajabón. Permission from MIMARENA's provincial office is recommended. The most comfortable visiting season is November through March during the cooler dry period. Visitors combining the reserve with the Monte Cristi National Park dry forest and mangrove coast can explore the full range of northwestern Dominican Republic's protected natural areas.

The primary conservation threats to Cerros de Chacuey are continued charcoal production, grazing by free-ranging cattle that prevent forest regeneration, and agricultural encroachment on lower slopes. The transboundary Dajabón watershed context — with extensive deforestation on the Haitian side — makes unilateral Dominican conservation measures insufficient to protect water quality and quantity in the basin. MIMARENA has promoted natural regeneration through exclusion fencing in selected areas and community education programs. Binational projects funded by international organizations including the Inter-American Development Bank have attempted to address watershed management on both sides of the Dajabón border, though sustained implementation remains challenging given political and economic constraints.