Haiti – Dominican Republic - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

countries. These issues include the uncontrolledtransboundary charcoal trade; illegal farmingand tree cutting on Dominican land in generaland inside Dominican Republic protected areasin particular; unclear marine territorial delimitationand illegal transboundary fishing; and the floodingof land and infrastructure due to the rapid rise ofLake Azuei and Lake Enriquillo. The uncontrolledtransboundary charcoal trade and tree fellinghas, for example, already triggered conflict thathas led to violence.At present the overall situation is gradually deteriorating.If current trends continue in the border zone,including practices similar to those which havealready caused much of the degradation in Haiti,soil erosion and a reduction in land productivity willworsen significantly on the Dominican side of theborder zone as well. This scenario could changedramatically as a result of shocks or suddenchanges, such as natural disasters. Such a shockmight accelerate the decline and further degradethe stability and development of the border zone.Climate change is also expected to have anegative impact on the Caribbean in the longterm: the average temperature, the variability ofrainfall, and the frequency and average intensityof hurricanes are all expected to increase. All ofthese effects will have serious consequences forthe area in question: an adjustment in precipitationrates alone would have a negative impact on rainfed agriculture, which is the mainstay of the borderzone economy.Most of the driving forces identified are national inscale, which means that it would not be viable toonly develop stand alone environmental or localsolutions. An integrated and larger scale approachis needed. For example rural food insecurity andextreme poverty are in part driving the unsustainableslash and burn agricultural practices onthe Haitian side and triggering the associatedextensive soil erosion and deforestation. Similarly,charcoal demand in the border area is low, butin Port-au-Prince it is high, thus driving the nationalcharcoal economy. A national scale solution onenergy is needed to resolve this matter. Finally, landtenure and tenant farming are major obstacles –farmers understandably are prepared to invest onlyin land they either own or can confidently controlfor longer periods.On a more positive note the international relationshipbetween Haiti and the Dominican Republicis quite good, with meetings up to the highestpolitical levels taking place on a regular basis.Important progress has also been achieved bylocal and national initiatives, such as the financingof binational tree planting brigades within theframework of the Frontera Verde programme,commune level bi-national cooperation, andcooperation between local organizations andassociations on both sides of the border. Sustainableagricultural programmes, such as onesthat promote agroforestry, and the associatedtrade represent a major opportunity for povertyreduction in the border region. Such initiativescould provide a critical foundation for largerscale corrective action and investments in crisisprevention.It is with this more positive outlook in mind that thereport concludes with 14 detailed recommendationsthat should be developed and implementedby the two governments and their internationalpartners. If implemented, the recommendationsare expected to reduce chronic poverty andhunger in the border zone, while promoting moresustainable livelihood practices and enhancingthe resilience of the population to shocks andstresses. They also set out to preserve peaceful relationsbetween the two countries through increasednational and local level bilateral cooperation thatwill reduce tensions over border zone issues.The recommendations are divided into tenbi-national border zone recommendations andfour Haitian national scale recommendations.Most solutions will need to be bi-national or atleast bi-nationally agreed, due to the very highinter-connectivity of populations and issues acrossthe border.Bi-national border zonerecommendations1. Protecting and increasing the vegetationcover – Continue to financially and politicallysupport the bi-national reforestationand agroforestry efforts. Increase technicalassistance to improve the quality, consistencyand sustainability of the re-forestation effortsand implement a more strategic program.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone7