Wetlands are an important natural resource in Puerto Rico of great ecological value, unmatched beauty and of a significant recreational, educational, scientific and economic worth. This resource has several functions, such as improving the quality of water and the environment, the replenishing of aquifers, or ground waters, provide food and habitats for wildlife, propitiate the establishment of food chains, help to mitigate floods, produce oxygen, retain and stabilize the sediments from the highlands, so that they do not go into the sea, and provide scenic tourist attractions.\nThe protection of our wetlands, swamps and marshes, is hereby established as the public policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. To such ends, the preservation, conservation, restoring and management of this valuable natural resource is promoted.\nHistory —Dec. 31, 1998, No. 314, § 1, eff. 30 days after Dec. 31, 1998.
Puerto Rico Legal Code