Haiti – Dominican Republic - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

Members of the assessment team meet the two bi-national reforestation brigades that operate in Zapoten,which borders the national parks of Sierra de Bahoruco in the Dominican Republic and Forêt de Pins in Haiti.These two brigades are among the most successful in the border zone, with reported survival rates of treesreaching 95%.© UNEPbrigades, reaching 95% in the Pedernales watershed,but only 40% in Pedro Santana. The level oftechnical assistance received by the brigades alsovaries significantly from one brigade to another,which has clear repercussions for the successfulimplementation of the project. In Capotille forexample, where trees have been growing well, aHaitian technician oversees the plantation activitiesdaily. However, this is one of the only Haitiantechnicians that have been involved in projectmonitoring to date. In some places visited by theassessment team, especially towards the centerof the country, the border population seemedto receive only sporadic technical assistanceand seemed unaware of basic plantationtechniques.It seems that in most cases sites have beenselected for planting because the land there isavailable and the owner of that land is willing, ratherthan for a strategic criterion such as the vegetationcover or high vulnerability to erosion. Moreover, itseems that the exploitation or harvesting rights aswell as the obligations of the landowners has notbeen clearly set out. Landowners are authorized toharvest mature trees but there is no mechanism toensure that they harvest or replant in a sustainableway. There are no contracts between the entityrunning the reforestation efforts and the landowner,and it is not at all clear how the system for sharingrevenue among community members is supposedto function.In addition, it appears that the selection of treespecies used is guided mainly by forestry criteriasuch as rapidity of growth and fire resistance.Ecological and conservation factors or the possibilityof creating income generating activities(fruit trees, and communal plant nurseries) were nottaken into account in the original project design,but have been added to some extent at a laterstage. For example, in areas where forest hasnever existed, the regeneration of original shrubsshould be encouraged instead of creating treeHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone69