Working with Haitian farmers...

 

will bring land destroyed by the devastating earthquake back to productivity through planting beneficial fruit trees, using sustainable agro forestry practices.

 

Over one year after a devastating earthquake, and a Hurricane  the nation is still struggling to regain its footing. Why the best recovery efforts may hinge on something green.

 

Surrounded as it is by an amphitheater of treeless mountains, the city of Gonaïves has long been defenseless against the onslaught of hurricanes that pound Haiti every summer. Unencumbered by trunks or roots or shrubs, the water sloshes freely downward, gathering into apocalyptic mudslides that destroy homes, crops, and livelihoods. In 2004 a single storm claimed 2,000 lives from this one city.

 

Amid a host of competing priorities, the seemingly least urgent task may prove to be the most significant: planting as many trees as possible. “Almost all of the country’s problems—natural disasters, food shortages, poverty—can be traced back to rampant deforestation,”

 

By absorbing water and holding soil in place, trees can minimize the impact of natural disasters and repair nutrient-poor agricultural lands. An aggressive reforestation campaign would also bring much-needed jobs to the region and, if done correctly, could solve the energy conundrum that led Haitians to cull their forests in the first place. “Planting trees is not just some quaint side project, It’s the key to rebuilding the country.

Our program focuses on addressing the country and communities’ most urgent needs. Working with local farmers and farming groups, we are planting trees to reforest degraded hillsides, produce sustainable charcoal and fuel wood, construction materials, food, produce biodiesel, and establish intensive hillside farming practices.

 

The island nation suffers from one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. This is troubling for a number of reasons. The loss of nearly all its trees promises to amplify how dramatically earthquakes, hurricanes, and other periodic natural occurrences impact Haitians, to say nothing of deforestation's impoverishing legacy of erosion and climate change on local scale (less moisture). Without trees holding the soil in place, a heavy rain — let alone a hurricane or an earthquake — can easily cause mudslides on the island's steep slopes.

 

Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the same island in the Caribbean — Hispaniola. Both countries are at the same latitude and, generally speaking, the same climatic conditions prevail.But one country, the Dominican Republic, has lush forests. The other, Haiti, is almost completely brown and bare. The stark difference is visible from high above — one side green and full of foliage, the other bare.

Fewer than 100,000 acres of forest remain in Haiti, a country that was three-quarters tree-covered when European explorers first arrived 500 years ago. The nation, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, has lost perhaps 98 percent of its tree cover, one of the worst cases of deforestation in the world.

 

By most accounts, cooking fires are the major culprit behind the nation's loss of trees. Haitians use trees as fuel either by burning the wood directly, or by first turning it into charcoal in ovens. Seventy-one percent of all fuel consumed in Haiti is wood or charcoal, according to the US Agency for International Development.

Every year, the country's 9 million (and growing) inhabitants burn a quantity of wood and charcoal equal to 30 million trees. That's 20 million more trees than Haiti grows yearly.

The loss of trees and their roots has led to widespread erosion. Some 36 million tons of valuable topsoil is swept away yearly, according to the United Nations. Some ends up in waterways. Rapid erosion caused by deforestation is spilling large quantities of silt into Lac Azuei, raising lake levels and flooding the road connecting Port-au-Prince to Malpasse. The original road already lies 2 feet below the water line, but the government has been piling sand on top of it to keep the critical passage open. The lake is rising still. National Geographic reports that the extensive deforestation will likely exacerbate the negative impacts of the recent earthquake.

When the ground moves and there's nothing holding the loose earth in place, landslides become a greater threat.

HATT is committed to help Haiti restore its degraded lands to sustainable productivity. Tree planting in Haiti is a fundamental part of this restoration and HATT is concentrating its efforts in the planting of trees to provide fruit, animal fodder, construction materials and sustainable fuel wood for the local populations. The trees are integrated into the local agriculture and gardening systems.