The effects of deforestation on rural communities in Haiti Nathalie Dortonne – University of Florida Source: Caribbean Property Magazine
Results
Abstract "
Protective folk and religious traditions play a significant role in the way that rural communities view the environment.
" Little more than 2% of Haiti’s natural forest remains and yet 80% of the population relies on wood for cooking fuel (Mercy Corps).
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Bon-Dye (God) is the ultimate provider and wood trees are seen as natural goods supplied by nature for human extraction (Murray and Bannister 2004).
" This poster examines the relationship between deforestation and rural communities in Haiti, focusing on how deforestation drives adaptation in rural communities.
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Growing rural population + Economic pressures= Increased demand for charcoal (cooking fuel).
" Haiti’s mountainous terrain and thin subtropical soils makes the land susceptible to erosion and environmental disasters.
" My research shows that a reliance on trees for fuel wood sets in motion a series of events that undermine human adaptability. " Wood has significant economic, social, cultural, and environmental importance. " Tree cutting increases runoff and soil erosion. " The government’s use of outdated methodologies do not incorporate the Haitian farmers cultural beliefs or traditional practices.
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Haitian farmers view trees as a crop to be exploited. Past reforestation and conservationist efforts have centered their methodologies around a protect-mothernature paradigm. Domestication of trees allows for more adaptability than the extractive mode. Foreign aid is not enough to produce a sustainable agricultural market in Haiti unless the villagers have a role the distribution of the money.
" Deforestation acts a catalyst for natural disasters like landslides and facilitates the spread of Cholera and bacterial diseases.
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Macroeconomic policies lack success because farmers do not play a direct role in the labor and planting process.
" Fishermen and marine environments are negatively impacted because eroded hillsides send sediments into streams and lakes
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Reciprocity traditions among families are an adaptive measure.
" Environmental rundown, population growth, poverty, and political instability are push-factors for rural-urban migration. " Some people label Haitian migrants as environmental refugees, people who are displaced due to environmental causes, notably land loss and degradation, and natural disasters.
Benefits 1. Palm trees do not have roots that go deep into the ground. 2. Valuable for soil conservation and retention. 3. Serves as a defense against the countries natural disasters. 4. Prevents mudslides and rapid movement of soil. 5. “The destruction of the palm tree is a crime with regards to its historic, symbolic, religious and sacred value.”— Exil Lucienna, a Professor of Ecology
National symbol 1. The palm tree stands on a white square in the middle of Haiti’s blue-and-red flag. 2. “For about 100 years, all the towns in Haiti had a central plaza…and right next to it always stood the tree of liberty, which symbolized revolutionary social change. On top of the palm, they placed a liberty cap, which they called the weapon of the republic.” — Sen. Maxime Roumer, of Grand’Anse department
The 2010 earthquake caused a mass migration of people from capital to rural areas. Seeds intended for planting were used to feed family coming from Port-au-Prince. Some Haitians decide to migrate to other countries like the United States or Canada. Poverty, environmental rundown, political turmoil and population growth are push factors for displacement. Family ties and “faith in god” are mentioned as reasons to stay in the place of residence despite hardship.
Religious/Cultural 1. Palm trees are cut down for Holy Week. 2. Leaves used for worship. 3. People eat the hearts of palms for enjoyment. 4. Hearts of palm is considered refined food in Caribbean countries. 5. “When Jesus left the desert to go to the synagogue, they cut down a palm tree to take as supply.” — Farmer who lives outside Jérémie “When they looked inside the fruit and saw it was all white… and Jesus said that it was a pure food.“
Economic 1. Government does little to conserve palm trees. 2. No laws against cutting palm tree down. 3. Haiti exports palm products. 4. Hearts of palm sold for consumption. 5.Tree’s cluster sold as pig feed. 6. People utilize trees to build house.
Source: Mirror Online After the 2010 earthquake, the Haitian government increased its dependence on foreign aid and agricultural and forestry investments to supply food, income, as well as combat deforestation, erosion and desertification.
Discussion •
Local people are valuable assets in rebuilding Haiti and their knowledge of the land should not be disregarded.
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Microbusinesses are the stronghold of the informal economy.
Palm trees:
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Is the national emblem of Haiti disappearing?
Thus, externally funded projects can facilitate substantial behavioral change, if designed on the basis of ethnographic insights into small holders socioeconomics (Murray 2004). In multiple research studies, it is shown that production rather than protection of wood trees are more beneficial to the farmers.
Conclusion • The erosion of Haiti’s soil goes back to land use systems
Source: The Telegraph
" Because precipitation is not properly absorbed, stagnant pools of water become . breeding grounds for Cholera and other waterborne diseases.
Source: USGS
" The bare hillsides and sloping terrain in Haiti creates prime conditions for landslides, especially after the 2010 earthquake. " Landslides destroy roads used for commerce and communication.
based on the extractive technologies of a market- oriented colonial plantation system. • Regreening the entire Haitian landscape is impossible for a single development project to accomplish. • These findings indicate that rural Haitian communities have found ways to adapt to the changing environment. • Donor support is needed to provide farmers with seedlings and the appropriate tools to manage their crops. • The domestication of wood reduces the rate of depletion of wood trees. It is favorable over the extractive method of gathering wood trees. • Understanding how religious and cultural beliefs influence planting tradition could be one way for government funded projects to best serve the rural farmers.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledges Dr. Gerald Murray for his research on land tenure among rural Haitian peasants.