Conservation districts A-B, C-R and P-R: the forest, the resource and what is untouchable

They are Rules 6.1.22, 6.1.23 and 6.1.24 of Chapter 6.1 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, defining the A-B, Forest Area; C-R, Resource Conservation; and P-R, Resource Preservation qualification districts. Each brings the district’s purpose, the table or list of permitted uses and the design parameters; C-R adds a section of special considerations in conservation areas and a two-column table, one for resource conservation and one for basin resources. All three are the districts with which the regulation protects forests, caves, riverbanks, mangroves and landslide areas.

A-B includes land comprised by existing forests and land recommended for replanting, with special characteristics based on soil type, topography and relative humidity. C-R identifies portions of farms whose existing characteristics must be kept and improved, and includes specific areas with caves, caverns, sinkholes and the karst zone, as well as areas of high and very high landslide susceptibility under the Puerto Rico Landslide Susceptibility Map or the current instrument. P-R classifies areas whose existing condition is unique, fragile and in danger of extinction, including the five physiographic mangrove types existing in Puerto Rico: mangrove islets, fringe mangroves, dwarf or scrub mangroves, riverine mangroves and basin mangroves.

• In A-B: that every farm segregated after the regulation took effect have no less than twenty-five cuerdas, with an occupation area of four per cent and a density of one- or two-family housing on each farm.Verified against the official source
• In A-B: building the buildings, structures or works compactly so they affect a minimum of the forest area, avoiding waterproofing the land and protecting the vegetation and topographic features.Verified against the official source
• In C-R: processing the uses by consulta de ubicación before OGPe’s Adjudicative Board or the Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III, provided they present no conflict with conserving the resource or with the land’s stability.Verified against the official source
• In C-R, if the land sits in a high or very high landslide susceptibility area: presenting a geotechnical study certified by a professional engineer for housing, critical infrastructure or installations, earth-moving activities risking stability, and every new construction.Verified against the official source
• In C-R: not building structures over caves, caverns, sinkholes or at their entrances, and keeping a minimum separation of fifty metres from the nearest limit of the caves and their entrances in projects authorised on land where they exist.Verified against the official source
• In C-R, basin resources column: respecting the five-metre-wide easement zone from the river’s legal channel and the hundred-metre-wide riparian transition zone on both sides of the channel, in which land use and activities that do not alter the natural run-off in volume and quality are conditioned.Verified against the official source
• In P-R: building nothing except what relates to the scientific studies the section itself mentions, and not segregating land except to make the permitted uses viable or to devote the portion to public use by public deed.Verified against the official source

• In C-R, for land of high or very high landslide susceptibility: the geotechnical study certified by a professional engineer showing the proposed work will not be exposed to a landslide or cause instability on neighbouring land, or presenting the necessary mitigation measures.
• For the internal use and development of caves for scientific and tourist-recreational purposes: the study showing that such use and development is compatible with the caves’ natural state, certified by the DRNA.
• For timber production in fringe and riverine mangroves, and for bark for tannin: the DRNA’s authorisation.

1. 1

   Step 1: A-B: the forest district

   The Forest Area is a conservation district established to identify land with special characteristics for tree planting, timber production and soil and water protection, and to identify land planted or planned for reforestation; those characteristics rest, among others, on soil type, topography and relative humidity. It includes land comprised by existing forests and land recommended for replanting. Its uses are principally agro-forestry and silviculture, with horticultural crops and some compatible livestock enterprises such as apiculture and aquaculture, as the Department of Agriculture recommends; also agroecological sowing or crops, installations for agrotourism and ecotourism activities, one- or two-family housing per farm, micro casas, a sawmill, public and recreational installations, building roads and horse stables as a complement to horse riding, craft uses, accessory buildings and uses, bed and breakfast, eco-hospedería, and other uses by consulta de ubicación before the Adjudicative Board.

2. 2

   Step 2: Selling timber in A-B and its two conditions

   A-B’s commercial column allows the sale of products harvested on the farm including timber and timber products, but with two express conditions: provided the cutting is done scientifically in a way that does not lead to deforestation, and limiting the space to a building whose area will not exceed seventy-five square metres. Beside that, the same column allows the sawmill. The district’s parameters are strict where it matters: every farm segregated after the regulation took effect will have no less than twenty-five cuerdas, and segregating A-B portions of farms or lots from the rest of a farm holding another classification is not allowed, except to devote the A-B portion to public use in favour of a competent body by public deed. The occupation area is four per cent, the density is one- or two-family housing on each farm, and the separations are six metres from every road right of way and three metres or one fifth of the height from the other boundaries.

3. 3

   Step 3: C-R: which resources it covers

   The Resource Conservation district identifies portions of farms whose existing characteristics must be kept and improved: dune and beach areas, stretches of road where the trees on both sides form a tunnel, portions of farms where species of singular value live, lake, river and other water-body margins, coastal areas of scenic value and buffer strips adjacent to a resource of special value. It also includes the specific areas with caves, caverns, sinkholes and the karst zone, with their flora, fauna and groundwater. And it classifies areas essential to safeguard natural-value resources lacking a special designation: bioluminescent bays, thick vegetation areas, salt flats, dunes, streams, rivers, lakes, lagoons and their margins, geological formations, some karst areas outside the restricted zone, places of extraordinary beauty, beaches, flora and fauna refuges, waterfalls and springs, reservoirs, watersheds and ecological niches of endangered species. It also considers areas of high and very high landslide susceptibility under the Puerto Rico Landslide Susceptibility Map or the current instrument, and those identified as landslide deposits in the USGS geological quadrangles; and it identifies land constituting archaeological values.

4. 4

   Step 4: The geotechnical study in landslide zones

   It is C-R’s most concrete requirement and the one most people discover late. If the land sits in areas identified as of high and very high landslide susceptibility under the Puerto Rico Landslide Susceptibility Map (Monroe, 1979) or the current landslide instrument, or in areas with a landslide history or identified as landslide deposits in the USGS geological quadrangles, a geotechnical study certified by a professional engineer must be presented. That study must show the proposed work will not be exposed to a landslide or cause instability on neighbouring land, or present the necessary mitigation measures, using the best engineering practices. The regulation names four cases where it is required: housing; critical infrastructure or installations; earth-moving activities, that is, changes in topography, that risk the land’s stability; and every new construction.

5. 5

   Step 5: The caves: fifty metres and internal prohibitions

   C-R’s parameter table devotes three rows to caves. First: no structures may be authorised over caves, caverns, sinkholes or at their entrances, and projects authorised on land where caves exist will keep a minimum separation of fifty metres from the nearest limit of the caves and their entrances. Second, internal protection: any action implying damage or internal destruction of the cave system is prohibited, including its waters, flora and fauna, such as — but not limited to — damaging or destroying any physical element of the cave, altering its natural environment, depositing rubbish in the caves, contaminating the waters flowing towards them and using the caves as animal shelter. And third, the door that does exist: the internal use and development of caves for scientific and tourist-recreational purposes may be allowed where a study to that effect shows such use and development is compatible with the caves’ natural state, and that study must be certified by the DRNA.

6. 6

   Step 6: The riverbank: five metres and a hundred metres

   In the basin resources column, C-R defines the lateral strip abutting the river bank in two zones. The first is a five-metre-wide easement zone from the river’s legal channel. The second is a riparian or riverbank transition zone one hundred metres wide on both sides of the channel, in which land use and activities that do not alter the land’s natural run-off in volume and quality will be conditioned. And there is an adjustment valve: in the zones near the river mouth, in reservoirs’ immediate surroundings, or where the channels’ and margins’ topographic or hydrographic conditions make it necessary for people’s and property’s safety, both zones’ width may be modified.

7. 7

   Step 7: Housing in C-R: only with four conditions

   In the basin resource conservation category, the regulation allows some uses provided the population density or development intensity is so low that it does not significantly increase erosion and run-off. Among them, one- or two-family housing, micro casas and bed and breakfast, but only if they meet four cumulative conditions: being immediate to an existing community; having adequate infrastructure; not being land susceptible to landslide or flooding; and the lots to be formed keeping proportion in size with the sector’s existing lots. As for numbers, the resource conservation column sets the occupation area at two per cent and allows no land segregation; the basin column allows segregation at twenty-five cuerdas and sets the gross floor area at twenty per cent. A note on the source: the basin column’s occupation-area cell is damaged in the printed document and we do not publish a figure we cannot read.

8. 8

   Step 8: The planted yards of the basin column

   The basin resources column brings yards with an unusual requirement: a front yard of no less than five metres deep or one fifth of the building’s height will be required, and that front yard will have at least fifty per cent of its area planted. The rear yard will also be no less than five metres or one fifth of the height, and the yards must be covered with vegetation to minimise erosion and possible contamination of water bodies. Two side yards will also be required, each no less than five metres wide or one fifth of the building’s height. And the construction works must affect a minimum of the resource’s area, protect the land, avoid its waterproofing, protect, maintain and restore the vegetation and topographic features, avoid deforestation that increases run-off and erosion, and seek a positive balance where the natural environment prevails over the development.

9. 9

   Step 9: P-R: where nothing is built

   The Resource Preservation district is established to classify and designate specific areas that are natural resources whose existing condition is unique, fragile, in danger of extinction, and which must be protected for contemplation or scientific study. It includes portions within Natural Reserves, the Cotuí and Peñones Limestones which are unique in Puerto Rico, the areas of greatest landslide susceptibility within the Restricted Karst Special Planning Area, and the best-known underground rivers. It also includes mangrove forests, salt flats and associated mudflats forming part of the Mangroves Special Planning Area. Its policy is to preserve the existing natural condition to the maximum, and its uses are two: carrying out scientific studies supervised by educational institutions, people, bodies, associations or bona fide scientific groups duly recognised and accredited; and contemplation under the supervision of the resources’ custodian officials, with visits by groups interested in previously authorised walks. The parameters are equally blunt: no construction whatever is allowed except that related to the scientific studies mentioned; land segregation is not allowed except to make the permitted uses viable or to devote the portion to public use by public deed; and accessibility may be controlled or prevented, depending on each resource’s natural value and exclusivity.

10. 10

    Step 10: The five mangrove types and what each allows

    The five physiographic mangrove types existing in Puerto Rico will be qualified under the P-R district, and since each has a special value and distinctive characteristics with different management needs, the permitted uses differ. Mangrove islets may be used for activities related to their aesthetic value, refuges and species nurseries and for coast protection, and scientific research and limited passive recreation may also be allowed. Fringe mangroves allow limited timber production with careful and selective cutting by DRNA authorisation, passive recreation installations provided they do not hinder the system’s ecological balance and natural functioning, scientific studies, and fishermen’s jetties provided they are built on piles and do not imply cutting and filling the mangrove. Dwarf or scrub mangroves, because their regeneration is extremely slow — more than fifty years — allow only scientific studies. Riverine mangroves allow the production of timber, firewood and bark for tannin, taking precautions to maintain natural productivity and by DRNA authorisation, plus scientific studies. And basin mangroves allow that same production, limited passive recreation not implying cutting, filling or dredging the mangrove and associated salt flat and mudflat systems, and scientific activities and studies.

A property’s qualification is read on the Planning Board’s qualification maps. In C-R the uses are processed by consulta de ubicación before OGPe’s Adjudicative Board or the Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III, and in A-B the uses the table refers to "others" go the same way. The study allowing a cave’s internal use and development is certified by the DRNA, as is the authorisation for timber production in fringe and riverine mangroves. And the geotechnical study for landslide zones is certified by a professional engineer.

• Segregating in A-B a farm under twenty-five cuerdas, or segregating the A-B portion from the rest of a farm of another classification for anything other than devoting it to public use by public deed.
• Planning in A-B an occupation greater than four per cent of the lot.
• Selling timber harvested on the farm without the cutting having been done scientifically in a way that does not lead to deforestation.
• Putting up in A-B a sale building over seventy-five square metres.
• Building in C-R without going through the consulta de ubicación before the Adjudicative Board.
• Starting work in a high or very high landslide susceptibility zone without the geotechnical study certified by a professional engineer.
• Building a structure over a cave, cavern or sinkhole, or at its entrance.
• Bringing a project within fifty metres of the nearest limit of a cave or its entrances.
• Depositing rubbish in a cave, contaminating the waters flowing towards it or using it as animal shelter.
• Developing a cave’s interior without the study certified by the DRNA.
• Altering the natural run-off inside the hundred-metre riparian transition zone on both sides of the channel.
• Leaving the basin column’s front yard without fifty per cent of its area planted.
• Putting up housing in basin resource conservation without meeting the four conditions: immediate community, adequate infrastructure, land not susceptible and lots proportionate to the sector.
• Building anything in a P-R district unrelated to the scientific studies.
• Cutting dwarf or scrub mangrove, where only scientific studies are allowed.
• Producing timber in fringe or riverine mangroves without the DRNA’s authorisation.
• Building a fishermen’s jetty in fringe mangrove without piles, cutting and filling the mangrove.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Junta de Planificación de Puerto Rico (JP)

  Junta de Planificación

  docs.pr.gov

• Planning Board

  jp

  jp.pr.gov

• Department of Natural and Environmental Resources

  drna

  www.drna.pr.gov