Haiti – Dominican Republic - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

although it is estimated to be much higher thanthe population on the Dominican, in line with otherborder areas. The main towns on the Haitian sideof the border are Fonds Parisienne and La Sourceand several smaller towns are scattered on theplain and up in the mountains.Agriculture and large scale illegal charcoalproduction and trade are the main land usesand livelihoods in the area. Dominican protectedareas are one of the main sources of the woodfor this trade. (This issue is presented in detail inChapter 5.)The Southern Coast and PedernaleswatershedThe Pedernales River Basin is located in theborder zone in the south of the island. Water flowsstart in the mountains on both the Haitian andDominican side and flow to the southern coast.The Pedernales River is the largest watercoursein the area and forms the southernmost part ofthe international border between the DominicanRepublic and Haiti. The source of the river is in themountains on the Dominican side in Bahoruco,and its watershed covers an area of 174 km 2 . Thewatershed comprises an area of high mountainsthat stretches along some 70 km in a northwestsoutheastdirection. It is relatively flat in its westernpart, where the slope descends gently southward.At an altitude of approximately 500 m, at thelevel of Las Mercedes, a plateau is formed. Tothe north, the slope is larger and exceeds anangle of 40 degrees in many places. Anotherplateau exists at about 1,000 m and spans muchof the northern side, being interrupted by gullies.Water levels in the river rise rapidly in responseto precipitation and may go dry during the dryperiod. The Pedernales River is one of the few riverson the Pedernales Peninsula which contain waterfor most of the year.The estimated population of the area is approximately21,000 on the Dominican side of thebasin 146 . On the Haitian side, no reliable informationof the population numbers for the whole watershedcan be found, but the population has reachedapproximately 30,000 in the community of Anseà-Pitre,two thirds of whom live in the countryside.That population is increasing by roughly 3.7% peryear. 147In the Provincia de Pedernales (DominicanRepublic) Annual precipitation ranges from about600 mm on the southern coast to 2,000 mm onthe slopes of the Sierra de Bahoruco 148 . This area isalso the home of two important protected areas.One is the Sierra de Bahoruco, which is situated inthe north of the watershed, and which stretchesover the mountain ridge into the area of the Lakesand connects to one of the few protected areasin Haiti – Forêt des Pins. The other is the marineprotected area of Jaragua, in the DominicanRepublic, on the southern tip of the PedernalesPeninsula.The Pedernales watershed yields ample evidenceof the environmental differences between the twocountries in the border zone. The watershed canbe divided into three distinct zones, with distinctenvironments:1. Mountainous.2. Mid-altitude.3. Dry coastal.3.3 Border zone socio-economicsand migrationThe border between Haiti and the DominicanRepublic is increasingly porous and unregulatedwith distance away from the main border crossingstations. Interactions relating to trade, agriculture,legal and illegal use of forest and marineresources, education and medical needs, occurbetween the populations of the two countries. 149HaitiIn Haiti, the border departments are the North-West–,Central–, West– and South-East departments. Theborder region attracts Haitians from other parts ofthe country who are looking to take advantage ofthe additional employment and trade opportunitiesthat can be found both closer to and over theDominican Republic border. 150 As a consequence,villages in the Haitian border zone have seentheir populations increase in the last ten yearsand urbanization rates are high. The populationof the city of Ouanaminthe, for example, grewby 20% per year. 151 The effects of this movementof people can be felt over the border as Haitiansenter and settle on vacant land in the DominicanRepublic. Case study 1 also highlights the level ofHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone39