Haiti – Dominican Republic - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

The differing levels of tree cover on either side of the Haiti-Dominican Republic border in the Artibonite rivercatchment is a highly visible symptom of a complex bi-national deforestation problem.© UNEPof January 12 th , 2010. Now the Haitian Governmentis leveraging this increased international support inan effort to move beyond the most basic recoveryof the areas damaged by the earthquake towardslonger-term reform and development of thecountry as a whole. High on the government’s listof priorities are economic development, the ruleof law, environmental rehabilitation, and energyaccess.Today, this approach is starting to deliver positiveresults. Business in Port-au-Prince is restabilizing,major business investments in the northeast ofHaiti have been announced, and in the SouthernPeninsula longer-term sustainable developmentprogrammes have begun.Haiti and the Dominican Republic, supported bythe international community should consider toactively re-focus on the development challengesalong their shared border. The border zone is not aneconomic growth pole for either country, but it is acritical transport link, and home to several hundredthousand poverty stricken people. Perhaps mostimportantly, it is a significant source of tensionbetween the two countries, and its fate might welldetermine both their futures. If the current situationstabilizes, both countries will continue to develop,but if it declines, then the stability of both countries,and the health of the relationship between them,will be in jeopardy.1.2 Assessment context and designThe border between Haiti and the DominicanRepublic presents a vivid contrast in the wealthand environmental status of two countries. Theborder area has been experiencing long termchronic environmental degradation, which hasreached especially severe levels on the Haitianside of the border. In many areas, this degradationis undermining livelihoods and increasing disastervulnerability, while the large disparities betweenthe two countries have led to illegal transboundaryHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone11