These two parks, along with Lake Enriquillo and adjoining zones of the Municipality Pedernales, form the first biosphere reserve in the country.

The official foundation of the colony of Pedernales came about in the year 1927 during the Government of Horacio Vásquez, who appointed as Administrator the well-known writer Sócrates Nolasco.

The name of Pedernales stems from the mineral flint (pedernal in Spanish), which is a very common variety of quartz of yellowish color "that produces spark with the link".

Pedernales lies a short way from Bahía de las Águilas, an isolated, unspoilt beach known for its great beauty and biodiversity.

Its location over a number of rain shadows through the highlands of Hispaniola from the northeasterly trade winds gives Pedernales a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh).