Specifically, the lands that comprise the NEC are located between Luquillo's town square to the west and Seven Seas Beach to the east, being delineated by PR Route # 3 to its south and the Atlantic Ocean to its north.

The area comprises 2,969.64 acres (1201.77 hectares),[1] which include such diverse habitats as forest, wetlands, beaches, coral communities, and a sporadically bioluminescent lagoon.

These include, among others, federally endangered species such as the plain pigeon, the snowy plover, the Puerto Rican boa, the hawksbill sea turtle and the West Indian manatee.

A grassroots campaign started in the late '90s by concerned citizens, and eventually led by Sierra Club's newly formed Puerto Rico Chapter and other member organizations since 2004, had as its goal the preservation of the NEC.

These organizations banded together to form the Coalition for the Northeast Ecological Corridor in 2005 in order to better coordinate their efforts, adopting a formal structure in October 2011.

Meanwhile, the new plan, they contended, would leave unprotected 437.05 acres (176.87 hectares) of ecologically sensitive lands precisely where developers had earlier intended to build megaresorts.

They also argued that these projects would result in deforestation, land movement, filling of wetlands, channelization of rivers, and the clearance of coastal vegetation, significantly impacting the species and other living resources that depend on the NEC.

The two proposed projects: Dos Mares and Four Seasons resorts, they argued, would further compromise the ecological integrity of this area since both of projects' developers were requesting land use changes in certain areas to the PR Planning Board; specifically the request was for re-designation from "natural resource conservation" zoning district to "tourism development" zoning district.

In addition, both projects conducted deforestation and land movement activities without the required permits, resulting in changes to the natural patterns of runoff and direct impacts to important ecological zones.

The organizations that originally made up the Coalition were: Ceiba Pro Development Alliance (APRODEC in Spanish), the Association of Professionals and Traders of Fajardo (ACOMPRO in Spanish), the Federation of Fisherpersons of Puerto Rico and Defenders of the Sea, Inc. (FEDEMAR in Spanish), Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón Cultural House, 4H Clubs, Fortuna Community, Defenders of Barrio Juan Martín and the Northeast Ecological Corridor, Allied Interdisciplinary Environmental Groups (GAIA in Spanish), Brotherhood of Eastern Artisans, Protecting Animals in Eastern Puerto Rico (PARE ESTE, Inc.), the Puerto Rico Chapter of Sierra Club, University of Puerto Rico at Carolina Chapter of Internal Tourism; while the Sustainable Development Initiative serves as an advisory group.

Their support was through personalized letters directed to local decision-makers, National Action Alerts, small grants for educational materials (brochures), and US press coverage, among others.

The NEC's campaign was also supported by actors Benicio Del Toro and Edward James Olmos, as well as environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Casa Pueblo founder Alexis Massol-González.

PU-02-2008-24(23) on February 6, 2008, the limits for the NEC and on April 24, 2008, Governor Acevedo-Vilá signed Executive Order OE-2008-22[17] which officially established the Northeast Ecological Corridor Nature Reserve.

126 of June 25, 2012, creating a nature reserve in all public lands within the Northeast Ecological Corridor, which cover 1,957 acres or 66% of its original designated area.

The Clinic's free and volunteer legal services have been instrumental in the Coalition's campaign strategies to assure that the Dos Mares and the San Miguel Resorts did not acquire government permits to commence construction.

Until that date, both projects did not have a single environmental or land use permit approved due to, among other actions, a lawsuit filed by the non-profit Initiative for a Sustainable Development against the Puerto Rico Planning Board.

[24] This decision was reversed by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico on January 23, 2012,[25][26] although the lawsuit has turned mainly academic since passage of the law that designates all of the Corridor as a Nature Reserve.

[30] Importantly, ecosystems located on the coastal plains and low hills of the NEC, represent one of the regions most impacted by anthropogenic activities in Puerto Rico.

Eleven species are classified as critical by DNER's Natural Heritage Program among them: arana (Schoepfia arenaria), the black cobana (Stahlia monosperma), the beautiful goetzea (or matabuey locally) (Goetzea elegans), and the Fajardo guayabacón (Eugenia fajardensis), an endemic species whose distribution is currently limited to Vieques Island, Culebra Island and the easternmost NEC.

Towards the western part of the NEC in the segment known as El Convento there is a coastal forest older than seventy-years (rare, due to deforestation in this area) with all but one species being native.

Most forests in the NEC are relatively young (possibly between 20 and 60 years old) and have a composition of species that is characteristic of perturbed coastal rainforest in other parts of Puerto Rico.

It is possible that anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, deforestation and the recurrence of fires in the NEC have been the most limiting factors regarding the development of mature forest in this region.

It is also worth mentioning that a dinoflagellate species, Pyrodinium bahamense, resides in Aguas Prietas Lagoon and may be responsible for stationary bioluminescence events in this body of water.

Regarding sub-groups, the 188 species of invertebrates found in the NEC can be divided as follows: sponges: 1, cnidaria: 12, molluscs: 9, annelids: 1, arachnids: 30, crustaceans: 18, millipedes: 6, odonate: 8, cockroaches: 5, termites: 1, Orthoptera: 5, stick insects: 2, true bugs: 11, beetles: 9, Hymenoptera: 18, flies: 15, butterflies and moths: 34, mayflies: 1, Echinoderms: 2.

A total of 16 critical elements are counted in this group including the West Indian whistling duck (Dendrocygna arborea), the white-cheeked pintail (Anas bahamensis), the Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), piping plover (Charadrius melodus), roseate tern (Sterna dougallii), the American coot (Fulica americana), the Puerto Rican plain pigeon (Patagioenas inornata wetmorei) and the white-crowned pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala).

Among the exotic species the presence of the small Asian mongoose (Herpestes javanicus), introduced by the Spaniards to control pests, has become a threat to native and endemic fauna.

The NEC lies north of El Yunque National Forest and it is surmised that it generates part of the humidity required so that it remains a tropical rainforest as it is carried by tradewinds.

[29] This bird has not been documented within the NEC, so that the restoration of this ecosystem might provide an opportunity to reintroduce this and other species in the area, thereby enhancing connectivity between coastal and mountainous region east of the island.

There are approximately ten access routes and several dirt roads used, mostly by local residents, to enter the beaches or forest areas for recreation.

The high level of rainfall makes Northeast Puerto Rico a relatively wet spot; November is when it rains the most and the driest month is March.