A Tree of Hope For Haiti

By Natacha Alexandre & Rene Devis, Heritagekonpa Magazine

Ayiti Quisqueya or Bohio, as named by the indigenous peoples (the Tainos, the Xaraguas, the Guacanagarics, the Mariens, and the Maguanas), was the first Spanish Colony and the second-largest Caribbean island after Cuba with a lush and welcoming island paradise when Christopher Columbus and the Spanish uncovered the island on December 5, 1492.

Five hundred and fourteen years after European and Western colonization, Haiti is

Massive trees planting in Port De Paix by Haitian school children. "A Tree of Hope For Haiti" funded by Artists Relief Fund For Haiti, L’organization Du Nord Ouest Pour Le Developpment De L’environnement, and Heritage Konpa. Become a Sponsor and help make a difference today . Click for more information

said to be one of the most impoverished and environmentally deprived countries in the world. After its independence from France in 1804, Haiti spent nearly 100 years paying retribution and independence debt to France, thereby exporting and ultimately depleting lumbers and resources. It is estimated that since the Slave Rebellion of Haiti from 1795 to 1904, the benefit from Haiti's land exploitation has been more than US$28 billion dollars.

Within two hundred and two years of paying retribution to the French, Haiti's future was threatened by severe and widespread environmental degradation as a majority of its population depends on farmlands to feed their families.

Haiti is on the verge of a serious ecological disaster as more than 95% of its forests are gone, fertile soils and farmlands have been destroyed and the mountains are now reduced to bedrock. The situation will continue to get worse as long as charcoal and low productivity agriculture are the only opportunities for poor farmers. Today new measures and laws are needed to respond to environmental harm. 

Haiti's unstable political environment, its social impact and the lack of economic development that the country has endured over the four decades, has forced Haitian farmers to turn to tree cutting to be used for the production of charcoal, as an alternative source of income.

An overwhelming majority of the Haitian population relies heavily on the production of charcoal as a source of energy. The land has been depleted of its most vital resource, trees, and subsistence farmers through soil depletion; deforestation, erosion, and destruction of fertile and grazing lands have caused farmers to abandon the land. The environmental degradation of Haiti's land must be stopped now. Farmers must be encouraged to replant, as reforestation is key in revamping the land.

According to recent data from mongabay.com, only "3.8% of Haiti’s 105,000 hectares of land is forested. Furthermore, Haiti has lost 22.1% of its forest and woodland habitat from 1990-2005." Deforestation of Haiti's lands and mountain through industrial clear-cutting or by local farmers has already claimed over two-third of the forests of Tibet to feed Haiti's enormous demand for charcoals.. 1 |2|Next Page »