Haiti – Dominican Republic - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

Haiti – Dominican RepublicEnvironmental challengesin the border zone

ForewordThe joint management of transboundary natural resources: a first step towards the resolution ofbinational environmental and social conflictsThe issues in the border zone of Haiti and the Dominican Republic are perceived in different ways bypeople living and working in the region. Some feel that despite the problems that may arise here, thearea provides an opportunity for the people of our two countries to cooperate, share experiences andfind joint solutions to shared problems. At the same time, others consider the border zone as a regionwhere development opportunities are limited by poverty and isolation.Notwithstanding these different perspectives, addressing the challenges in the border zone is important notonly for the development of local communities, but also for the implementation of cooperation strategiesand joint initiatives between the two countries. For this reason, the governments, development actors,and civil society in both countries have strengthened their efforts in the border zone and are building onsuccessful initiatives that have already taken place.Among these efforts, we would like to mention those initiatives adopted at both the community andgovernment levels that seek to address the diverse challenges in the border zone, some of which havestemmed from the short-sighted exploitation of natural resources. At the same time, we welcome theefforts of the Joint Dominican-Haitian Bilateral Commission, a flagship initiative which will guide theimplementation of joint interventions in the border zone. This initiative, which originates from the highestlevels of both States, has catalyzed the development of an increasing number of binational programs.In the environmental sector, momentum for joint programs has also grown. On 16 May 2011, the Ministryof Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic, the Ministry of Environment of Haiti,and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, signed a Declaration of Intent, in Ouanaminthe, for theTriangular Cooperation between the three parties, to support the Frontera Verde Programme. The first stepin this cooperation was to implement the first phase of the Transboundary Natural Resource Managementand Restoration Project, focusing on the Massacre and Pedernales Watersheds. Technical support in theimplementation of this work is being provided by UNEP and UNDP. This commitment further highlightsthe willingness of our two governments to jointly address the problems associated with natural resourcemanagement in the border zone.We are aware that in order to effectively address the challenges faced in the border zone, a deepunderstanding and an accurate analysis of the driving forces that have contributed to the present situationis necessary. For this reason, we welcome this report and analysis on the state of transboundary naturalresources and how they are linked with different aspects of life both within the border zone and withinour respective countries. This report provides information on natural resources and their role in trade,agriculture, human mobility, energy, among others.This document provides up-to-date information and confirms the close relationship that exists betweenthe state of transboundary natural resources, poverty, and recurring social conflicts. In this respect, thisreport is an indispensable tool that will inform decision making in the coming years.4 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

We congratulate all those who contributed to the preparation of this report, both from our Ministries, UNEP,and other institutions. We invite all actors that are providing assistance, or that are asked to intervene in theborder zone, to consult this report and to take into consideration its recommendations when carrying outfuture action. We are firmly committed and dedicated to take the conclusions and recommendationsof this report to the highest levels of our governments. It will inform the work of the Joint Dominican-Haitian Bilateral Commission as well as guide the political decisions and actions undertaken in theborder zone.DR. JEAN FRANCOIS THOMASMinister of Environment, HaitiDR. BAUTISTA ROJAS GÓMEZMinister of Environment and NaturalResources, Dominican RepublicHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone5

Executive summaryThis report presents the findings, conclusions andrecommendations of an 18 month long assessmentof the border between the two countries thatshare the Caribbean island of Hispaniola – Haiti,the poorest country in the Western Hemisphereand the Dominican Republic, a middle-incomecountry. It is along this 380 km border that there isthe most contact between the two populations,and the highest likelihood of tension and conflictbetween them. It is here too that there is the greatestopportunity to have a positive impact on thecomplex relationship between the two countries.Paradoxically the challenges in the border zoneare driven both by the interdependencies of thetwo countries and by the stark contrasts in theeconomic, social and environmental conditions.These differences manifest themselves in thechronic poverty and severe environmentaldegradation seen in many areas on the Haitianside of the border, as well as illegal transboundaryexploitation of natural resources.The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)and the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) accompanied the Governments of Haitiand the Dominican Republic, through theirMinistries of Environment, in undertaking a detailedassessment of the border area. The assessmentcovered both countries, however, emphasis wasput on the Haitian side where the information isscarce and the environmental problems are morepressing.This assessment has three complementaryobjectives:• Firstly, it sets out to assess how the use of naturalresources and environmental degradation inthe border zone are contributing to disastervulnerability, conflict risk, poverty and unsustainablepractices. This also includes assessing howresource dependent livelihoods are respondingto these challenges.• Secondly, it presents an analysis of issues andtrends, as well as of underlying driving forces,that affect the situation in the border zone.• Finally, it provides practical recommendationsfor the two governments and their internationalpartners on how to mitigate the identifiedrisks, capitalize on the opportunities, increasetransboundary environmental cooperation,and build resilience to identified areas ofvulnerability.The assessment team found that the key issuesof concern identified in the border zone can beconnected to four interlinked driving forces:• Haitian poverty, food insecurity and underdevelopmentaffect virtually all parts of theborder zone.• Environmental degradation manifests itselfmainly in soil erosion, deforestation, and adegraded marine environment.• Weak governance, especially on the Haitianside of the border, affects all facets of theeconomy and society.• Finally, the economic and resource inequalitiesbetween the two countries are the cause ofmany of the transboundary problems identifiedin the border zone.Examples of some of the key issues in the borderzone include the illegal extraction and tradeof natural resources (mainly charcoal, but alsofirewood and marine resources), agriculture, andlarge numbers of people crossing illegally fromrural areas in Haiti into the Dominican Republic insearch of livelihoods due to the degradation ofland and a surplus of labour on the Haitian side.Several of the noted problems, such as deforestationand soil erosion, are very large scale and havebeen developing for generations. Environmentaldegradation in the worst affected parts of theHaitian border zone is almost completely irreversible,due to a near total loss of vegetation coverand productive topsoil across wide areas.Several of the identified issues related to theenvironment and the use of natural resourcesalso present a short term but high instability andconflict risk to the relations between the two6 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

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

Part 1 Background[·[·1 Introduction1.1 A challenging time for the borderzoneChallenges and opportunitiesRelations between the neighboring countries of[·Haiti and the Dominican Republic have beenand remain complex. An enormous disparity existbetween them in social, economic, and environmentalwealth. Despite their problems the countriesare major trading partners and political relationsbetween them have improved dramatically since2010, thanks in part to the Dominican Republic’s[·generosity towards the Haitian people following theearthquake [· of that year, and in part because of[·improvements in the political landscape of Haiti.Nowhere are the inequality of the two countries[·[·and the complexity of their relationship more starklyMap 1. The island of HispaniolaIsland of Hispaniola[·!^ CapitalInternational boundaryExclusive EconomicZone (EEZ)Bahamas EEZ[·obvious than along their 380 km border. The areaaround that border presents a long and rapidlylengthening list of challenges, which includes weakgovernance, severe environmental degradation,and a population that is profoundly vulnerable tonatural disasters and food insecurity.These many challenges are in part balancedby positive short term trends and opportunities:trans-boundary trade is substantial, levels ofviolence are relatively low, and there is substantiveformal and informal cooperation between the twogovernments in their efforts to resolve several of theissues listed above.A window of opportunityDuring 2010 and 2011 the Government of Haiti,their immediate regional neighbours and theinternational community, were focused on helpingthe Haitian society to recover from the earthquake[·Turks and Caicos EEZI[·A t l a n t i c O c e a n[·[·Cuban EEZJérémie!P3000 m2000 mPointeÎle dela TortueJean-Rabel!PPort-de-PaixMonte CristiCap Saint-Nicolas!PPuerto PlataCap HaitienBaie de!PMancenille!P [·[·Cabo FrancesViéjoCap à Foux!PBaie deFort-Liberté DajabonMaoHenne Grande!!P!PPointe GonaivesOuanamintheSantiago!P [·Baie de la Tortue !PSabanetaMocaNagua Bahia EscocesaBaie de Grand-Pierre!PPointe de la Grande-PierreLa Vega!PCabo SamanbaPico Duarte!P!PHinche3098 mSalcedoSan Francisco[· !PBahia de!PDe MacorisSamania Samana!PPointe OuestBonaoCotuiElias Pina!P!P[·!San JuanMonte PlataIle de la GonâveBelladère!P!PHato Mayor El SeiboÎles!P !PCayémitesPointe Fantasque Baie de Port-au-PrinceHiguey!P[· JimaniMiragoâne PORT AU[·!^Azua!P!PNeiba[·[·!P!PSan CristobalPRINCE!^!P[· !PSANTOSan Pedro [· La RomanaDe MacorisJacmel!P DOMINGO!P[·!P!P!PBaie de JacmelBarahona Punta BaniLes CayesPunta PalenqueSalinasÎle à VacheCap RaymondAnse-à-Pitres !PPedernalesIsla Saona[·ArtiboniteCaboEngano1000 m0 mCubaJamaicaHaitiHaitian EEZTurks & Caicos Is.Dominican RepublicAnguillaPuerto RicoAntigua &BarbudaGuadeloupeMartiniqueIslaBeataCabo BeataC a r i b b e a n S e aDominican Republic EEZPuerto Rican EEZArubaSt. LuciaGrenadaTrinidad &Tobago0 50 100The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement by the United Nations. UNEP 2013.kmPanama10 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

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

trade of natural resources, local level tensions,and an encroachment on Dominican land byundocumented Haitian migrants looking foreconomic opportunities. For these reasons, bothgovernments requested UNEP to conduct anassessment of the border zone in order to identifykey priorities for stabilizing the present situation andneeds, in order to secure development goals.ObjectivesThe objectives of the assessment and this reportare:1. To identify how the use of natural resourcesand environmental degradation in the borderzone are contributing to disaster vulnerability,conflict risks related to the conflicting use ofnatural resources, poverty and unsustainablepractices, as well as how resource dependentlivelihoods are responding to thesechallenges.2. To present an analysis on key environmentalissues and trends, as well as underlying drivingforces to contribute to determine the potentialpolitical, social, stability and developmentimplications.3. To provide practical recommendations forthe two governments and their internationalpartners to continue the work on mitigatingthe identified risks, capitalize on the opportunities,increase transboundary environmentalcooperation, and strengthen the resilience tosources of vulnerability.1.3 Assessment processGeographical scopeThe geographical scope of the assessmentconcerned the full length of the border zone,approximately 380 km from north to south. Ingeneral, this can be defined as a band stretchingapproximately 10-20 km on both sides of the actualborder, depending upon available infrastructure,water courses, topography and the level oftransboundary interactions between communities.Some of the key issues identified in the border zonefurthermore proved to be so tightly connected tonational scale challenges in the two countries thatthe assessment team felt obliged to upscale theanalysis from border zone to national level.Assessment methodologiesThere are no standardized methodologies forassessing transboundary challenges of thekind found in the border zone. Neither has acomprehensive analysis of the zone ever beenconducted. In the absence of a methodologicalor comparative model, the assessment teamdesigned its own framework based on relevantliterature i and methods and then adapted it tothe reality on the ground.The methodology adopted by the assessmentteam also acknowledged the growing concernamong national stakeholders and donors thatthe limited financial resources available for workon the border zone should be used to encouragepractical action rather than further quantitativebaseline studies. As a result, the methodologicalapproach used in this report did not allow forextensive collection of new quantitative data. Theapproach, then, was essentially exploratory andrelied on various sources of both qualitative andquantitative data, as well as anecdotal evidencecollected during field missions. This allowed theteam to reach the objectives of the assessment,while making the best possible use of the availableresources, and remaining flexible and responsiveto the realties they faced on the ground.In order to have confidence in the collectedqualitative data, and the analysis and conclusionsdrawn from it, the data was triangulated. 2 Theuse of this research technique, also known asmethodological triangulation, ensures that no conclusioncan be drawn from a single source withoutcorroboration by others. 3 Therefore, only wheninterviews with members of the public on bothsides of the border, accounts from governmentauthorities, field observations and/or secondarydata sources pointed in the same direction, couldthe assessment team draw conclusions on keyissues, drivers and trends with a sufficient level ofconfidence.Data was collected from:• formal reports and surveys containing existingdata (both qualitative and quantitative) .i Literature included general literature on environment,natural resource management and development, reportsemerging from work elsewhere in Haiti and the Dominicanrepublic, as well as studies made on specific issues in theborder zone.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone13

A member of the assessment team collecting data in the field.© UNEP• field observations throughout the border zoneon both sides of the border, with three missionswhich took place between May 2011 and April2012.• interviews with the local community membersengaged in various livelihoods (farming,fishing, re-forestation, commerce, charcoalmaking), interviews with community leadersand representatives from livelihood associationsand NGO’s active in the border zone, as wellas interviews with national government officialsfrom both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.• institutional knowledge from UN staff gainedover the course of several years working in Haiti.• findings from socio-economic case studiesfocusing on the Haitian side of the border zonein the Massacre watershed in the north andthe Pedernales watershed in the south. Thesestudies were conducted by the Earth Instituteof Columbia University together with the HaitianState University. 4• studying satellite images of the border zoneand comparing to field level observationsIn addition the assessment team used a sustainablelivelihoods framework to understand howlivelihoods in the border zone are coping andresponding to long-term degradation as well asshort-term shocks and stresses. 5This framework is a useful analytical lens to understandvulnerabilities, livelihood assets, influencingfactors, strategies and outcomes that should betaken into account when trying to understand themain factors that affect people’s livelihoods. Theframework also helps in explaining the relationshipsbetween these various factors, as well as how amore sustainable use of natural resources shouldbe part of the solution when addressing the variouschallenges faced by livelihoods in the border zone.The framework was further used when developingthe recommendations that focus on livelihoodstrategies and ways to build resilience among14 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Louis du Nord!(Anse-à-Foleur!(iste!(Palmiste!(!^Map 3. Areas visited by the assessment team during the course of the study20°NCubaLe Borgne!(Port-Margot!(HaitiDominican RepublicPort-au-Prince Santo Domingo!^!^Cap-Haïtien !P[·Fort-Liberté!PMonte-Cristi!PLimbéQuartier Morin!^!(!(!(Gros MornePilateAcul du!(!( Limonade!(!( !(!(Nord !( Plaine du!(Meiac!(!^NordMerandeMilot Trou-du-NorduveDumas !( !^Plaisance!(!(!( Sainte-Suzanne!( !(!(Grande-Rivière du Nord!(Ferrier!(DajabónDondon!( !(!PMarmelade!(!(Perches Ouanaminthe!( !( !^!(!( !( !( !(Partido!(!^!( !(Bahon!(onaivesEnnery!(CapotilleSaint-RaphaelVallières!(!P!(!(!(ChevalierLoma De CabreraRanquitte!( !(!(!(!(Saint-Michel de l'Attalaye!(Pignon!^!^!( !(RestauraciónLa Victoire!(72°W!^A t l a n t i c O c e a n!^!^El Copey!(Lucas EvangelistaDe PenaEl Mamey!( !(Sabaneta!(Santiago Rodriguez!(Maizal!(Mao!PEl Rubio!(I71°WLuperon!(Esperanza!( Villa Bisono!(Puerto PlImbert!(SantiagoJanico!(PeSantSaline!(Dessalines!( !(Cerca-Carvajal!(Passe Tilory!( GuayayayucoSaint Marc!(Petite !( Rivière de ThomassiqueVerrettes!(19°N!^Maïssade!(!PHincheThomonde!(Cerca-la-Source!(Thomassique!(Carabela!(El Corte!(!(!(!^Tocino!(!^!^Monabao!(Léogâne!(oâve!(Trouin!(Vallée de Jacmel!(Bainet!(!(Arcahaie!(Duvalierville!( !(Gressier CarrefourJacmel!PLa Chapelle!(PORT-AU-PRINCE!(Cayes-Jacmel[·!^!(Kenscoff!(MirebalaisSaut d'Eau!(!(!(Croix desBouquets!( Pétion-villeMarigotThomazeau!(Gantier!(!(Belle-Anse!Lascahobas!(!( BelladèrePoulie!(!(Cornillon!(!(Fond Parisien!(Grand-GosierSavenette!(!(Fonds-VerrettesLa Descubierta!(Jimaní!P!(Roy Sec!(Bony!(!(Elías Piña!PZapoten!(El Llano!(Los Botaos!(!(!(!( !( !( Los ArroyosLos Ríos!(La Rancha!(JuanSantiagoDuverge!(Las Matas!(El Cercado!(!(Los ArroyosNeiba!PSan Juan!PGalván!(Vicente Noble!(El Peñón!(!(La Cueva!([·Constanza!(Montazo!(Padre Las Casas!(Yayas De Viajama!(Barahona!PLos Negros!(Azua!P18°NAnse-à-Pitre!( !P!(!(PedernalesPoloLa CienagaDatum: !( WGS 84 !(UTM Zone 18NParaíso!(!^C a r i b b e a nS e a[·Manuel Golla!(EnriquilloSources: !(MINUSTAHUN Cartographic Section0 10 20KmThe boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement by the United Nations. UNEP UNEP - 2012 2013.!^!^Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone15!^

Members of the assessment team interviewing a Haitian reforestation brigade in Capotille, in the Massacrewatershed in the northern part of the border zone.© UNEPlivelihood groups to the various vulnerabilities theyface. Refer to annex III for a figure representing thesustainable livelihoods framework that was used.The assessment processThe assessment commenced in April 2011 andwas completed in 2013 with the finalizationand publication of this report. The 4 stageprocess followed for the assessment is summarizedbelow:1) Background research and scoping missionThe initial part of the project involved reviewingthe available literature pertaining to the borderzone. It also included a scoping mission tothe region in May 2011 that sought to identifyand understand the key issues, geographicalscope, and practical constraints on both sidesof the border – all of which information wasneeded in order to design the appropriateassessment methodology.2) Detailed information gathering and followupfield missions• This stage began after the scoping missionin May 2011. It included follow-up fieldmissions to the border zone in November2011 and April 2012, and set out to identifyand gather additional information relevantfor the study that was not available in thepublic domain. One such category of datarefers to information the official record ofwhich had been lost or destroyed duringor after the 2010 earthquake and copiesof which existed on paper or as institutionalknowledge. Another category containeddata that was in the possession of theauthorities in one of the two countries andwas available only on request.• The field teams consisted of specialistsfrom UNEP’s Post Conflict and DisasterManagement Branch, representatives of theGovernment of Haiti (Soils and EcosystemDirectorate of the Ministry of Environment),the Government of the Dominican Republic(representatives of the Ministry of environment)and UNDP personnel in Haiti. The fieldmissions were complemented by shortermissions, as well as bi-national meetingswith the two governments.3) Analysis of findings and writing of the reportThis stage was divided into four consecutivestepsa. Background chapters. Development ofreport structure and drafting of chaptersincluding background and general information(chapters 1-3).16 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

. Thematic analysis. Reviewing and analyzingthe collected data. Through triangulation ofthe various data sources, the team identifiedthe key issues in respect to challengesand opportunities for the population in theborder zone that deserved further researchand analysis. Key issues were identifiedbased on: a) issues that have an inherenttransboundary dimension and linked tothe use of natural resources, b) issues inthe border zone that result in increasedvulnerabilities for the people relying onnatural resource dependent livelihoods, c)issues that are a source of tension betweenthe two countries and that affect, or havethe potential to affect, the stability of theborder zone, d) issues that are a currentsource of cooperation which could befurther amplified. This analysis informedthe thematic chapters 4-8. The chaptersall follow the same structure, beginningwith a short general introduction of thetopic in question, before moving on tothe identified key issues, each treated ina separate sub-chapter. The treatmentof the issues identified, however, differwithin and between the chapters to someextent, mainly as a result of their scopeand impacts in respect to transboundarydynamics.c. Strategic analysis. The strategic analysisincluded a comparative analysis of thelisted key issues, and the identification andassessment of underlying and crosscuttingdriving forces. Furthermore, this part of theanalysis included an assessment of thepotential for incidents, disasters and otherdestabilization tipping points. The strategicanalysis also looked at how the identifiedkey issues are linked to underlying drivingforces. These topics are covered in chapter9 of the report.d. Response development. This step includedthe development of an overall proposedstrategy for response, as well as thedevelopment and costing of detailedrecommendations. These issues, as wellas an analysis of how the recommendationslink back to the key issues that wereidentified and a summary of key findingsand conclusions are found in chapter 10of the report.4) Consultation and completion• The final stage of the assessment processbrought government officials and otherkey stakeholders together at two workshops– one in Port-au-Prince and one in SantoDomingo – for extensive discussions aboutthe conclusions and recommendations ofthe project.• The consultation process was followed bya report revision, finalization, lay-out andpublication of the report in English, Frenchand Spanish.The target audience for this assessment is policymakers and planners in the two Governmentsand the international community supporting theGovernments.Report terminologyThroughout this report, the two countries of Haitiand the Dominican Republic are referred toseparately as Haiti and the Dominican Republicrespectively, and together as the two countries.At no point does the latter term refer to any othertwo countries.The terms Dominican and Haitian should beunderstood as proper adjectives pertaining tonational provenance in the most general sense,and not as carrying an association with thegovernment of either country.To further define that difference: the governmentsof the two countries are referred to asthe Dominican Government and the HaitianGovernment throughout the report and not as Haitior the Dominican Republic, nor as Port-au-Princeor Santo Domingo.The border zone, zone, border area, and areaare used interchangeably in the report – to avoidunsightly repetition – and should all be understoodto refer to the geographical area defined in the‘geographical scope’ section of the introduction,rather than to any political or territorial constructthat is exterior to the report, as in the sense of thephrases de-militarized zone or disaster area.The terms Dominican side and Haitian siderefer to the two sides of the border area inparticular and not to the two sides of Hispaniola ingeneral.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone17

Consultation workshops were held in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti with government counterparts,in order to validate the contents of the report.© UNEPThe assessment uses a range of tools, methodsand terminology to identify, categorize andanalyze the wide range of issues noted, and todevelop potential solutions. Annex I provides aglossary of key definitions and brief descriptionsof the tools and methods used in this assessmentand associated report terminology.Report translationThe findings of the report have significant implicationsfor both countries and the draft report hasgone though a bi-national review and consultationprocess. In this context, translation accuracy andneutrality is very important. However, despite bestefforts, not all words, phrases and inflections usedeither in this report and in the received feedbackare directly translatable across the 3 languages.For the avoidance of doubt therefore, the Englishversion of the report has been designated asthe master version and the French and Spanishversions as authorized translations.Chapter road mapFollowing this introductory chapter, Part I of thisassessment also includes chapters 2 and 3. Chapter2 provides an overview of both Haitian andDominican country contexts, providing informationon both countries’ economies, physical attributes,histories, natural hazards, and environmentalconditions. Chapter 3 focuses on the borderregion, looking at transboundary issues such astrade, cooperation, and migration.Part II of the report (Chapters 4-8) deal with specificthemes, such as agriculture, forestry and protectedareas, freshwater resources, marine resources,etc. Within each of these categories, specific keyissues and associated livelihoods responses areidentified. Each chapter first gives a brief generaloverview of the theme in question, before individuallypresenting the key issues that were identifiedas part of the assessment process.Part III then concentrates on the analysis of theinformation presented in Parts I and II of the reportby analyzing the trends, linking the various issuestogether, and determining the common underlyingdriving forces to all of them. The identified issuesand driving forces then inform the recommendationsand conclusions that are covered in the finalpart of this report, in Chapter 10.18 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

2 Haiti and DominicanRepublic country context2.1 IntroductionSimilarities and stark contrastsThis chapter sets out the context for the twocountries, pointing out common features andcritical differences.In short Haiti is classed as a Least DevelopedCountry and a ‘fragile state’ in the UN-World Bankdevelopment index, while Dominican Republicis classed as a middle income country. Thestrongest similarities between the countries arein their geography and climate, as well as theirvulnerability to natural hazards – the Island ofHispaniola lies next to a fault line and in the stormpath of many hurricanes. The most dramaticcontrasts are found in population density, stability,GDP, electrification, forest cover and the numberof protected areas.Table 1 summarizes selected key facts and statisticsfor the two countries, highlighting key differenceswhich are considered to influence the dynamicsbetween the two countries.Table 1. Key facts and statistics for Haiti and the Dominican RepublicParameterHaitiDominicanRepublicCommentsiiGeographySurface Area km² 27,750 48,730 76% differenceRainfall range Min-Mean-Max mm. 6, 7 350-1400-4000 508-1708-2540Average temperature 25.0 Celcius 26.2 CelciusSocietyEthnic composition: (Approximate) Percentage 95% – 5% – 0%. 11% – 73% – 16%Black African – Mixed – Caucasian 8, 9State Languages Creole + French Spanish10, 11Population (2011 estimate)This figure excludes up to 1 million unregisteredHaitian immigrants and workers residing inDominican Republic.10.1 million 10.1 millionPopulation Density 12, 13 362.6/km 2 205.4/km 2 76% differenceBirth rates per 1,000 inhabitants (2010) 14 27 22 22% differenceFertility rates (No. children/woman) (2010) 15 3.3 2.6 26% differencePercentage population under 15 (2011) 16 36% 31% 16% differencePercentage urban population 17 50% 71% 42% differenceDiaspora Dominican Republic: 1 million 18US: 600,000 19 Canada: 100,000 20France: 50,000 21The Bahamas: 80,000 22 1.41 million 23Remittances $1.97 billion (2010)26.6% of GDP$2.91 billion (2010)6% of GDPGovernanceStability – Foreign Policy Failed State Index 2011 24 5/60 84 – not at risk 1st/60 is worstCorruption – Transparency International Corruption 1.8 = 175/182 2.6 = 129/182 1st /182 is bestPerception Index 2011 25Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone19

Table 1. Key facts and statistics for Haiti and the Dominican Republic (Continued)iiiivviiiEconomy and Human DevelopmentGross Domestic Product (2010 estimate) US$ 26, 27 7.4 Billion 51.7 Billion 700% differenceGDP per capita US$ 28, 29 755 5,214Agriculture as a percentage of GDP 30, 31 25% 7.3%Human Development Index 2011 32 159th /187 98th /187 1st/187 is bestPercentage living in poverty & extreme poverty(2010) ii 33, 34, 35 76 & 56(2003)34.4 & 2.2 (2010)Inequality – Gini Coefficient 2001 36, 37 0.59 = 8th /190 0.48 = 26th /190 1st/190 is worstLife expectancy at birth (years) 38, 39 62.5 77.4 14.9 yearsdifferenceAccess to improved drinking water sources 63% 86%(2008) 40, 41Literacy (15-24 year olds) 42, 43 74 % 95 %Primary & secondary school attendance 44, 45 50 & 19 86.1 & 32.5Installed MW power generation – design capacity 270 MW 3394 MWAccess to electricity 46, 47 12.5% 88%48, 49LPG Usage 2%Charcoal and Firewood Usage 50of national household energyconsumption72% of energy demands satisfied byfirewood or charcoal.Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 live births) 51, 52 300 100Infant mortality rate (per 100,000 live births) 53, 54 70 21.3HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate 55, 56 1.9% 0.9%Contraceptive prevalence (ages 15-49, %) 57, 58 32.0 72.9Used in 79% ofhouseholds.3.1 % of householdsuse charcoal.Environment and Natural DisastersPercentage Forest cover (FAO standards) 59 4% 41%Number of Protected Areas 60, 61 35 86Percentage Land Cover as Protected Areas 62, 63 6% (Effectively 0.3%) 25.4%Yale University Environmental Performance Index2010 64 118/132 72/132 1st/132 is bestGermanwatch Climate Risk index 1991-2010 65 5/190 7/190 1st/190 is worstDisaster Risk Index (Average number of peoplekilled per million inhabitants)(2000)13.2 3.11Major earthquakes 663, 4, 51751, 1771, 1842, 1887, 1904, 2010 1946, 2003 Haiti 20107.0 Ri.Si iii, ii iv, iii v ivivvii Poverty is defined by each country’s poverty line. Extreme poverty, before 2005 was defined as living on less than $1 a day.In 2005, the World Bank defined extreme poverty as living on less than $1.25 a day.iii The vast majority of the data contained in this table comes from the website of the World Bank’s Open Data Initiative (http://data.worldbank.org/) and of the CIA Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/). Information onforests and protected areas come from the Global Forest Assessment 2010 published by the FAO.iv Data on natural disaster vulnerability come either from the country notes elaborated for both countries by the Global Facilityfor Disaster Reduction and Recovery or from the website of EM-DAT, an international disaster database (www.emdat.be).v Indicators such as the Failed States Index, the Freedom in the World Survey and the Corruption Perception Index can befound at the following URL: www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/17/2011 _ failed _ states _ index _ interactive _ map _ and _rankings / http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2012 / http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2011/results/20 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

The environmental, economic and social divide between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is clearly visiblethroughout the border zone, as here close to the Artibonite River and the Dominican town of Pedro Santana.© UNEP2.2 Environmental statusThe state of the environment in Haiti and theDominican Republic is a sobering study incontrasts. These countries, which had very similarenvironmental baselines in 1800, have evolvedinto very different societies and the current stateof the environment in each country reflects thatdifference.HaitiThe environment in Haiti in 2012 is in a chroniccrisis that has developed over the past 50 years.Environmental degradation is so severe andwidespread that it is now a key driving factor in foodinsecurity, rural poverty, the spread of disease, andflood vulnerability. 67Over the last six centuries, the forest cover inHaiti has shrunk considerably. Studies estimatethat in the 15 th century, 85% of Haiti’s territory wasforested, 68 the remaining cover is today estimatedto be 2-4% of the territory, with rapid deforestationhaving taken place in the past few decades. 69,70There are many reasons for this environmentaldeterioration. The exploitation techniques usedby farmers have often been detrimental. Therehas been a demographic explosion, and muchof the population uses firewood or charcoal asits main source of energy. There is a complexland tenure system, which is disadvantageous tosoil conservation and tree planting. Lastly thereis a pervasive absence of awareness about theenvironment among the general population anda chronic lack of efficiency within the relevantgoverning institutions. 71Subsistence agriculture serves as a good exampleof the process of environmental deterioration.Right across the country, land has been clearedfor subsistence farming, even the very steepmountainsides and areas with thin and low-fertilitysoils. Haitian subsistence agricultural practicesdo not traditionally include a strong focus on soilconservation or augmentation, so steep slopesare tilled without terracing or drainage controland small plots of land are replanted year afteryear. Livestock rearing is usually open, with animalsHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone21

wandering over depleted fields and unprotectedslopes.The consequences of this progressive disappearanceof Haitian forests are dramatic. Haiti is veryvulnerable to water erosion because it is a mountainouscountry: two-thirds of rural areas containslopes of an angle of more than 20 degrees. 72Deforestation increases this vulnerability to erosion,and large amounts of the nation’s topsoil havebeen washed into the ocean. 73 This reduction insoil volume and vegetation cover has reducedthe infiltration capacity of the river catchments, somore water runs off quickly rather than sinking intothe soil and subsoil. As a result the country is morevulnerable to extreme events such as flooding andthe rapid depletion of rivers in dry periods, whichin turn reduce the amount of crops and transformfarmland into wasteland. 74The coastal and marine shore environment of Haitiis also severely damaged. Inshore waters havebeen overfished and polluted by sewage, largenumbers of mangrove trees have been cut, andcoral reefs have been badly damaged and insome places destroyed entirely. 75Urban environmental issues, such as solid wastemanagement, are highly visible and problematic.There are no sewage networks in any Haitian urbancentres and the rivers and gullies are used as bothlatrines and waste disposal sites. Rivers are usedfor bathing, washing clothes and sometimes fordrinking water and so are vectors for disease ingeneral, and cholera in particular.The population as a whole is becoming moreaware of the environmental crisis, and understandsits root causes well, and there has been substantialinternational investment in environmental rehabilitation.Nevertheless, underdevelopment, instability,and the absence of political will, have combinedto thwart an effective and durable response tothat crisis.Dominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is in much better conditionenvironmentally than Haiti. The expansionof agricultural plantations and an increase incharcoal production have reduced the forestcover from about 75% of the overall territory in1922 76 to 12% in the early 1980s. Today, however,it reaches about 40% 77 and that recent increaseis due to three main factors:• Large-scale reforestation programmes (e.g.Plan Nacional Quisqueya Verde)• The conversion from charcoal and wooddependency to gas for cooking• The effective enforcement of laws andregulationsRecent surveys show that the forest cover iscontinuing to increase throughout the country,but that the increase is slower in the border zonethan it is in the rest of the country. 78 The maincause of deforestation in the border zone is still theillegal production of charcoal. Deforestation has,however, been halted in this part of the country,largely due to the strict enforcement of laws, andan increased awareness in local communities of79, 80the damage done by the charcoal trade.Even though most of the country is vulnerable toflooding, access to water is often scarce in theDominican Republic. Uncontrolled development,above all in urban areas and at tourist destinations,has seriously threatened the water supply. In someareas the groundwater has been so depleted andcontaminated by seawater that desalinizationplants have been installed. Another source ofcontamination is the Dominican Republic’s poorlyregulated industrial sector, which has boomed overthe last four decades.The coastline is also threatened in certain areas.Beaches are eroding and the flow of erodedsoil sediment into the sea damages coral reefs.Bearing in mind the importance of tourism as oneof the most important sectors of the Dominicaneconomy, these are critical national issues.2.3 Geography, Geology, Climate,HydrologyThe geography of HispaniolaThe island of Hispaniola has a surface area of76,420 km² and is the second largest island in theCaribbean Sea. Located between the latitudesof 20 and 17 degrees north, the island is highlymountainous, with four major mountain rangesrunning generally west-northwest to east-southeast.The mountains are commonly steep and the22 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

highest peaks in Haiti and the Dominican Republicare at 2680 and 3098 metres above sea levelrespectively.One critical difference between the two countriesis that the Dominican Republic has much moreflat and gently sloping land than Haiti. In Haiti theplains at the base of the mountains are generallyrelatively small. In comparison, the easternand northern half of the Dominican Republic isdominated by relatively flat land that is suitablefor agriculture. All major cities in both countriesare found either on the coast or on the flat alluvialplains.The original land cover in both countries was subtropicalforest with some wetlands. However, morethan four centuries of agricultural land clearinghave seen this forest cover reduced dramatically.The deforestation rate has been much more severeon the Haitian side, where a mere 3.7 per cent offorest cover remains (FAO classification system).The same metric for the Dominican Republic isapproximately 40 per cent. 81 Mangrove forestsalso remain along the shores but are generallyreducing in extent.Geology and soilsThe surface of Hispaniola is composed mainly ofmarine sediments, with sparse outcrops of oldermetamorphic rocks. The marine sediments aregenerally very rich in limestone, and light in appearance,hence the pale hue of much exposedground in both countries.The soils of Hispaniola reflect the geology andtopography: soils were originally generally thin andlimestone rich in the steeper hills and deeper andbetter quality in the alluvial plains. Only a minority ofthe mountainous regions with metamorphic geologyhave originally deep and/or good quality soils,although all regions in Haiti are now badly affectedby soil erosion and thin soil cover is the norm. 82 Soildepletion and erosion is also a significant issue inthe Dominican Republic, although not to the sameextent as in Haiti.The climate on Hispaniola is as diverse as its topography: there are great variations in both temperature andrainfall because the island consists of low-lying areas separated by mountain ranges that rise as high as3000 meters.© UNEPHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone23

ClimateThe different parts of Hispaniola see major variationsin annual rainfall as a result of topography,prevailing winds, and the sporadic nature oftropical storms and hurricanes. The wettest areasare the peaks of the highlands along the southerncoast, where rainfall can exceed 4000 mm,whilst the driest areas are in the northwest, whererainfall can drop to 350 mm per annum. All partsof Hispaniola experience a drier season fromDecember to April.At the national level, year round average temperaturesare 25° C for Haiti and 26.2° C for theDominican Republic. Temperature variations arelinked to the seasons but also to the extent of cloudand altitude: the hottest regions are the dry plainsnear sea level where temperatures commonlyexceed 35° C and the coldest regions are thewet mountain peaks where temperatures rarelyexceed 20° C and can drop to 10° C degrees orlower.Climate ChangeHaiti has recently ranked 6 th at the 2012 ClimateRisk Index developed by the research institute Germanwatch.83 This indicator analyzes the impactsof extreme weather events of the last 20 yearsand identified Haiti as one of the most affectedcountries in the world. The Dominican Republicalso ranks high on the same risk index, being oneof six Caribbean countries in the world’s top 40climate “hot spots”. 84 With a possible increase inthe frequency and severity of storms and adecrease in average rainfall 85 , the impacts ofchanging global and regional weather patternsis likely to further increase the vulnerability of theisland to extreme weather events.Climate change projections for Haiti and theDominican Republic are very similar. Both countriesanticipate increased average temperatures ofapproximately 0.7-1.0° C by 2030 and continuedincreases thereafter. 86, 87 Both countries also anticipatesignificant reductions in rainfall: up to 11% by2030 and 23% by 2050. 88, 89 Projections, however,vary greatly, highlighting the high level of uncertaintyin respect to the effects of climate changeon the island. The combination of increasedtemperature and decreased rainfall may well leadto water deficits and greatly reduced runoff/streamflows in both countries. 90More interesting, however, are changes that havealready taken place. In Haiti, UNEP field enquirieshave recorded significant anecdotal evidencefrom farmers of increased rainfall variability andlater starting dates for the wet season. This issupported by studies showing that Haiti’s averagemonthly rainfall volumes have considerablydecreased and its patterns changed betweenthe beginning of the 20 th century and that of the21 st century. 91, 92 Data from 1900-1930, 1930-1960,1960-1990, had similar rainfall patterns. The threeperiods were characterized by two peaks, onebetween March-May and another betweenAugust-October. 93 These numbers contrast withthose of the 1990-2009 period. During this period,rainfall patterns have significantly changed,showing only one yearly peak in the month ofSeptember. Average monthly rainfall is the lowestcompared to the three previous 30-year periodsat 106 mm, and yearly average rainfall during thisperiod is the lowest at 1269 mm. The 1990-2009period has experienced a decrease in averageyearly rainfall of 368 mm compared to the precedingperiod. The 1990-2009 period has also seenthe most extreme rainfall variability, presentingboth the lowest (8.9 mm) and the highest (478 mm)monthly rainfall averages amongst all four 30-yearperiods analyzed.The Dominican Republic has experienced similarrainfall patterns as Haiti. Its yearly peaks havechanged from two a year, around March-Mayand August-October, to only one in the monthof September. 94 Even when the 1930-1960 periodexperienced lower average monthly and yearlyrainfall, the 1990-2009 period experienced themost extreme monthly rainfall volumes amongstthe four 30-year periods compared, with a low of13 mm and a high of 471 mm. 95 The 1990-2009period experienced a decrease in average yearlyrainfall of 275 mm compared to the 1960-1990period.Temperature patterns in Haiti also seem to havechanged throughout the course of the 20 thcentury and into the 21 st century. Haiti’s averagemonthly temperatures have gradually increasedthroughout the four periods mentioned. The 1900-1930 and 1930-1960 time periods had an averagetemperature of 24.3° C. For the 1960-1990 period,average temperatures increased by 1° C to anaverage temperature of 25.3° C, and increased24 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

once again for the 1990-2009 period to an annualaverage temperature of 25.4°C. 96The Dominican Republic has experiencedsimilar temperature patterns as Haiti. Averagetemperatures in the Dominican Republic haveincreased by around 1.2° C from the 1930-1960to the 1960-1990 time period. Between the1960-1990 and 1990-2009 time periods, however,temperatures decreased by 0.3° C to a yearlyaverage of 24.7° C. 97In summary, climate change for Hispaniola isexpected to result in an overall drier and hotterclimate, with more severe dry seasons with lowerstream flows, and exacerbating existing health,social and economic challenges.HydrologyThe majority of the rivers in the mountainous regionsof Hispaniola are short and steep. This means thatwater flow rates at any particular time are governedmainly by recent rainfall (days to hours) rather thanannual rainfall. Flash floods can occur in a matterof hours and the same rivers can run almost dryfor two months in the dry season. Flow variations of100 times or more are not uncommon. The levelof responsiveness reduces with increasing size, thelarger rivers with large catchments are much morestable than the smaller rivers.At the national level Haiti has substantial fresh waterresources, divided between 30 main watersheds. 98However it also has national scale, chronic waterproblems including degraded catchments, waterscarcity, flooding and bacterial contamination ofwater sources.The different Departments of Haiti see major variationsin annual rainfall as a result of topography,prevailing winds and the sporadic nature of tropicalstorms and hurricanes. The wettest areas are thepeaks of the highlands along the southern coast,where rainfall can exceed 4000 mm, while thedriest areas are in the northwest Departments,where rainfall can drop to 350 mm per annum.All parts of the country experience a drier seasonfrom December to April.The Pedernales river, that forms the border in the southern part of the island, has a low water flow duringlarge parts of the year and is easy cross on foot. The water flow can, however, increase dramatically withinhours as a result of heavy rains falling in the mountains a couple of kilometers from the low lying coastalareas.© UNEPHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone25

Natural river flow variability due to climate andtopography has been greatly exacerbated byland degradation: deforestation and agriculture onsteep slopes have resulted in massive soil erosionthroughout virtually all Haitian river catchments.This is particularly true on the Haitian side, but canalso be seen in the Dominican side of the border.The central province of Elias Piña is, for example,experiencing increased water shortages, which isone contributing factor to why some landowners99, 100have sold their land and moved to the cities.The availability of water varies greatly across theDominican Republic because of the country’sdiverse geography and climate. 101 Most of thewater used (67%) comes from surface watersources, while the rest comes from groundwater (33%). 102 The Dominican Republic has 60watersheds, with most of its territory vulnerable tofloods. 103Despite the fact that the Dominican Republichas substantive water resources – 20 billion m 3 ofsurface water resources per year and groundwaterresources of 1.5 billion m 3 – the country still suffersfrom water related issues similar to those enduredby its neighbour Haiti. Water can be scarce in theDominican Republic because so much of it is usedfor irrigation and the population uses more of itper capita. 104 The current water demand of 10 billionm 3 represents almost half of the total freshwaterresources available. This chronic overexploitationis reflected in increased competition for surfacewater allocation as well as in unsustainablegroundwater extraction.In the last 20 years, water use has increasedfourfold due to the country’s economic andpopulation growth. The most water intensive sectoris agriculture, representing 8 billion m 3 per year,around 80 percent of the total water use and athreefold increase in the last couple of year. Wateris also generously used for tourism (hotels, resorts,golf courses) as well as for domestic use. 1052.4 Natural HazardsA very high vulnerability to natural hazardsBoth Haiti and the Dominican Republic are highlyvulnerable to natural hazards. The DominicanRepublic ranks 24 th amongst the 173 countriesassessed in the WorldRiskIndex, having a “veryOf all the Caribbean Islands, Hispaniola is the most susceptible to hurricanes.© UNEP26 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Flooding in cities and towns is a common occurrence throughout the island, often causing severe damageand deaths as a result of insufficient infrastructure to respond to high surface water flows.© UNEPhigh” risk to natural hazards, with Haiti ranking32 nd . 106 Although the Dominican Republic’s naturalhazard exposure is higher than that of Haiti, Haiti isranked as the 10 th most vulnerable state to naturalhazards having a higher vulnerability due to its highsusceptibility, and lack of coping and adaptivecapacities, rather than from the mere occurrenceof natural disasters. This means that Haiti cansignificantly reduce its natural hazard vulnerabilityby improving its public infrastructure, economiccapacity, governance, and public services.The key natural hazards for both countries are:• Hurricanes and associated major floods andlandslides.• Tropical storms and associated flash floods.• Earthquakes.• Droughts.Statistics show that a major disaster (such ascyclones, floods and droughts) affects Haiti every5-7 years and that internationally recognizeddisaster hits it every 2 years. Overall, between 1980and 2010 Haiti experienced 74 natural hazards(tropical storms, floods, landslides, epidemics andearthquakes). 107 Haiti’s is also the country with thehighest relative vulnerability to tropical cyclonesamongst the Small Island Developing States,followed by the Dominican Republic in secondplace, making Hispaniola the most susceptibleisland to hurricanes in the Caribbean. 108, 109 In 2008,for example, four hurricanes affected nine of Haiti’sten departments within one month, impactingan estimated 8 percent of its population (about800,000 people) and causing major damages inall sectors. 110Disaster data from the Dominican Republicindicates 40 natural hazard events for the period1980 to 2008, which affected 2.65 million peoplewith total economic damages estimated atUS$2.56 billion. Tropical storms and floods havehad the greatest impact in the country, causingrespectively US$2.51 billion and US$44.2 milliondollars damages. 111 The number of people killedis estimated at 1,446, 42% of whom were killed bystorms, 55% by floods and the remaining 3% byepidemics. 112Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone27

EarthquakesHispaniola is located on the border of two tectonicplates: the North American Plate and the Caribbeanplate. Two major, active fault lines cross mostof the island from west to east, 113 leaving both Haitiand the Dominican Republic equally exposed toearthquakes. The island has a long history of severeearthquakes, the latest being the devastating 7.0Richter Scale event of 12 th January 2010, which hadan epicentre just 30 km west of Port-au-Prince. Thisearthquake killed 225,000 people, injured 300,000more, and left a million homeless and displaced. 114Port-au-Prince sustained massive damage andeconomic losses to Haiti were estimated at US$7.8billion, which is 122% of its GDP. It is important tonote that Hispaniola has experienced severalearthquakes of this intensity over the last 300years and further earthquakes are expected, withthe northern region currently facing the highestrisks. 115 A study suggests that future earthquakesnear Port-au-Prince could be similar or larger inmagnitude than the 2010 earthquake. 116 All thenorthern part of the Dominican Republic has ahigh seismic risk, 117 with some studies claiming thatDominican seismic risk is higher than that of Haiti. 1182.5 SocietyHispaniola population evolution and ethnicityHispaniola has not seen large-scale immigrationsince the end of the 17 th century. Migration sincethat time has been largely limited to internalmovement and emigration. As a result, the socialfoundations of both Haiti and the DominicanRepublic were laid early in the history of Hispaniola.During this time, both the African and Caucasianpopulations were spread across the islandand mixed relatively freely. As a consequence,ethnicity today in Hispaniola is not fully defined bythe boundary between Haiti and the DominicanRepublic. People of African and mixed backgroundare found in both countries, with much more of theformer in Haiti and much more of the latter in theDominican Republic. 119Haitian populationThe population of Haiti is currently estimated atapproximately 10 million with a population densityof 362.6 inhabitants/km². 120 The ethnic compositionof the Haitian population is 95% black and 5%Caucasian and mulatto (mixed African andThe earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2012 caused unprecedented damage to the capital Port-au-Prince, and killed 225,000 people.© UNEP28 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Caucasian descent). 121 The mulatto minority isrelatively powerful and economically more securethan the majority.Over the years, a demographic explosion hasoccurred in Haiti. Its population was estimatedat 5,000 inhabitants in 1804 122 and had reached3.2 million within one hundred and fifty years. Thepopulation then almost tripled between 1950 and2005 and is now estimated at around 10 millionpeople. 123 The population is very young: 35% ofpeople are under the age of 15, and every year,200,000 people reach that age.Half of the Haitian population lives in urbancenters 124 , of which the most populous are Portau-Prince(home to 25 percent of the populationof Haiti and representing 62% of all urban population)125 , Jacmel, Gonaïves and Cap-Haitien.Dominican populationIn 2011 the population of the Dominican Republicwas 10.1 million, with a population density of 205.4persons/km². The registered Dominican Republicpopulation is ethnically very mixed with 11% African,73% mulatto, and 16% Caucasian. These figures,however, do not include up to one million illegalHaitian immigrants and temporary workers. 126 Justas large numbers of Haitians come over the borderto the Dominican Republic so, many Dominicansmigrate from Hispaniola entirely, usually to the USA.Just like its Caribbean neighbors, the Dominicanpopulation is very young (31.4% are aged under15) and birth (19.67 births/1000 inhabitants) andfertility rates (2.44 children/woman) remain high. 127The Dominican population is now predominantlyurban 128 as a result of a rural exodus. Indeed, thenumber of people living in urban areas increasedfrom 62% of the total population in 2000 to 71% in2010. 129 Most of those people live in the capital,Santo Domingo (2.2 million inhabitants), San Pedrode Macoris and La Romana in the south andSantiago de los Caballeros, in the north.2.6 Environmental GovernanceHispaniola governance and stability interlinkagesThe governance and stability situations in Haiti andthe Dominican Republic have been historicallyvery independent of each other. Each countryhas managed its affairs and endured its own criseswith relatively limited interaction with its neighbor.The Dominican Republic has managed to movebeyond a long dictatorship to develop rapidly andrelatively stably over the last 30 years, whilst Haitiunfortunately moved from a long lived dictatorshipto major instability and social-economic decline.This independence is however now effectively atan end. One in 10 inhabitants of the DominicanRepublic is a temporary or illegal immigrant fromHaiti, and the Dominican Republic is now a majorplayer in the post-earthquake reconstructioneffort. 130Environmental governance in the DominicanRepublicIn the Dominican Republic, most major environmentalissues are covered by the general orframework law 64-000, which came into effectin August 2000. It covers issues such as air andwater quality, pollution control, habitat and speciesconservation, protected areas, and environmentalimpacts. The design and implementation of theregulatory regime is overseen by the Ministry ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, which wascreated to bring all public institutions dealing withenvironmental issues under one umbrella.The legislature has been obliged to develop manyspecific or “sector” laws pertaining to the detailsof the broad topics referred to in 64-000, but thelength of that process has delayed the address ofurgent environmental issues.The Constitution of the Dominican Republic, (whichwas proclaimed on the 26 January 2010), makesspecific and extensive reference to the environmentand natural resources. 131 In it, reforestationof the country and protection and conservation offorests, high river watersheds and endemic, nativeand migratory biodiversity zones are declared asnational priorities.A cornerstone in the national process towardssustainable development has been set forth byOrganic Law 1-12 on the National DevelopmentStrategy for the Dominican Republic 2030. 132 Ofparticular relevance is section 2.4.3, which pertainsto the sustainable development of the borderzone (see sub-sections 2.4.3.1 – 2.4.3.6). In generalthe law envisages a society with a sustainableHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone29

consumption and production culture that protectsthe environment and natural resources, andcan adapt to climate change. The strategyalso looks to de-centralize the management ofnatural resources by creating 31 provincial and6 municipal directorates of the environment andnatural resources.Environmental governance in Haiti 133The critical state of the environment of Haiti isclosely related to the country’s deep-seatedinstitutional, political and governance problems.Despite the abundance of Haitian legislation onthe environment and the number of institutionsinvolved in environmental management, Haiti hasa long history of weak environmental governance.There are a number of texts that define the legalframework for effective environmental managementin Haiti – from local bylaws and governmentdecrees to the Constitution itself. However, thefocus of Chapter II of Title IX of the Framework-Lawof the Haitian Republic is limited to the naturalenvironment, and most of the relevant decreesand bylaws pertain to the protection of naturalresources, sanitation and urbanization.far from being an organic law, does establish theresponsibilities of this Ministry in relation to the otherstakeholders in the sector.The “Environmental Action Plan” (PAE) developed bythe Ministry of Environment in 1998 is still the maindocument in which the Haitian government hasspecifically identified programmes and providedguidelines towards the management of theenvironment. However, 14 years later, none of theseprograms have been implemented systematically.Despite the fact that the environment has beenidentified as one of the five priorities of the currentadministration, the Haitian Ministry of environmentcurrently lacks the financial support and technicalcapacity to provide leadership or to enforce thelaw. The government, supported by internationalorganisations and NGOs, has made several effortsto address this situation, but has met with littlesuccess. 134It remains difficult to extract a set of standards orguidelines on environmental management fromthis legislation because the laws were passed atdifferent periods and in different circumstances.The vast majority of them, although still in force,date to the 19 th century, when the environment,economic and demographic conditions werevery different. However, the task of updating thelegislation cannot be accomplished without thewill to apply the law. Furthermore, applying Haitianenvironmental laws is challenging, which meansthere is little tradition of jurisprudence.The ministries concerned with managing naturalresources are the Ministry of Agriculture, NaturalResources and Rural Development (MARNDR), theMinistry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior, theMinistry of Planning, and the Ministry of Public Works.The establishment of the Ministry of Environmentin 1994 added another stakeholder to the sectorof environmental management in Haiti. It shouldbe noted that this ministry still has no organic law,which represents a significant obstacle in the performingof its duties. However, the 2006 FrameworkDecree on Environmental Management, although30 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

almiste #!(u Nord!(Anse-à-Foleur!(#Map 4. The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic[·!^[·[·El Copey!(Lucas EvangelistaDe Pena# 779El Mamey!( !(LimbéQuartier Morin!^!(!(!(!( !(Gros MornePilateAcul duLiberté!( LimonadeMaizal!( !(!(!(!(#Nord Plaine du!(Meiac !^!(!PlNordMerandeMilot Trou-du-NordDumas!( !^Plaisance!(Pedro Ga!( Sainte-Suzanne!( !(# !(lEsperanzaGrande-Rivière du Nord!(FerrierMao!( Villa Bisono#!(Dajabón!(!(Dondon!(!P!PMarmelade!(Perches Ouanaminthe!(!(!(!(!( !( !(!(!(!(#!( !(!(ll!^SabanetaPartido!^1128Santiago RodriguezSantiago!(ivesEnneryBahon!( l!( lCapotilleSantiagoSaint-RaphaelVallières!(!P!P!(# l!(ChevalierLoma De CabreraRanquittel !(!(!(# 1474!(!(llSaint-Michel de l'AttalayeEl Rubio!(!^!(!^Pignon# 1302!(Janico!(Restauración!(La Victoire!(Dessalines# 1210!( !(!(Cerca-!( !( Guayayayuco#CarvajalPasse Tilory# 2011# 1060MaïssadeCerca-la-Source# 1221!(!( El Corte!(!PJaraint Marc!^!(!(HincheTocinoPetite Rivière de Thomassique!(Thomassique!(#!(!(2801MonabaoVerrettes# 1787!^!(#!(Thomonde# 2026# 3087!(!^19°N!^Carabela!(# 2560# 1580 La ChapelleConstanzaRoy Secl!(Elías Piña!(!(Las MatasMontazo[·!(!(de Jacmel!(t!(!^!^Léogâne!(Trouin!(Le Borgne!(#20°NCubaPort-Margot!(!(Arcahaie!( !(Gressier CarrefourJacmel!P!(DuvaliervilleLegendHaitiDominican RepublicPort-au-Prince Santo Domingo!^!^PORT-AU-PRINCE# 1580!(Fort-Cayes-JacmelCap-Haïtien#!PRivièr e CanotRiv. ArtiboniteMirebalais# Saut d'Eau!(!(1278!(Kenscoff!(!(Croix desBouquets!( Pétion-villeMarigot# 2282Riv. GuayamoucThomazeau!(Los Botaos!(La Rancha!(La Descubierta# 14!(# 940GantierLos Ríos!(#!(-39GalvánJimaní!(Neiba!(Fond Parisien!PBelle-AnseReforestationInternational boundary brigades!^ National capital18°N!P Department/Province capitall 1 - 2!!( Town, villagerMain cityAirportMain routeSecondary routeMajor lakesMajor riversl 3 - 6!(l7 - 14!^72°WLascahobas!(# 1381Cornillon!(Riv. Blanche!^# 2674!(Grand-GosierA t l a n t i c O c e a n!(Poulie!(Riv. Fer à Cheval!(Savenette!(Monte-Cristi!P!^!Belladèrel!(Fonds-VerrettesCapotille!(Riv. PedernalesR!(!(Bony!(Anse-à-PitreC a r i b b e a nS e a!^!(El Llano !(Zapotenl!(!(lRiv. MassacreRiviv. Artibonite!Pl# 2175# 2367!( Los ArroyosLibenière LibonRio TocinoRobinsonl!(!!( !P!(PedernalesRio Yoque del Norte!(JuanSantiagoDuverge!(R# 2084io Joca#El Cercado!(!(Los Arroyos# 2278Manuel Golla!(San Juan!PVicente Noble!(La Cueva #!(1669El Peñón!(PoloLa Cienaga!(Datum: WGS 84 !(UTM Zone 18N# 1455Paraíso!(EnriquilloSources:!(MINUSTAHUN Cartographic SectionKmThe boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement by the United Nations. UNEP UNEP - 2012 2013.!PGuayubinRio YabonicoRIO MAC ASIARio MaoRio San Juan!(NizaltoRio Yaq ue del Sur[·I71°WLuperon!(Padre Las Casas!(# 1342Barahona!P0 10 20Imbert!(Yayas De Viajama!(Los Negros!(!^Puerto Plata!P#Azua!P[· !(El Cerc32 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental # challenges in the border zone!^#

Map 6. The northern coast and the Massacre watershedCap-Haïtien72°W!PDajabón !P!P!P!PCayos Sietes HermanosMonte CristiEl MorroI!PHinche!PSan !P Juan!PMonte CristiJimaní Neiba!P!PRio Yoque del Norte!PPedernales!P!PLAGUNA DE QUEBROManglares del Estero BalsaCaracolJacquesilPhaëtonFort-LibertéPepilloSalcedoLAGON AUX BOEUFSMeiackLaguna SaladillaLAGUNA LA JAGUAM O N T E C R I S T I1Trou-du-NordDumasMerandeFerrier1Rio ChacueyCayucoRivière FraîchekPerchesVallièresRivière MarionLafleurAcul du PinsN O R D - E S TOuanamintheSavaneLongueManketAcajouDosmont 1DajabónBedou11Cana Baja1RIivière MassacreWelch1CapotilleChevalier1Lamine11Capotillo11D A J A B O N14PartidoCerros de ChacueyLoma De CabrerakRivière LibonMont-OrganiséLa Legend Victoire)llkMangroveMarine protected areaTerrestrial protected areaSalt production zoneDamsReforestation Cerca-Carvajal brigadeCharcoal production hotspots! ! ! Area of intensive charcoal production! ! !Bi-national markets)Main border crossingWaterflowIntermittent riverWatershed boundaryC E N T R ERestauraciónPasse TiloryDatum: WGS 84UTM Zone 18NSources:Guayayayuco MINUSTAHUN Cartographic SectionNalga de Maco0 3 6KmThe boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement by the United Nations. UNEP UNEP - 2012 2013.Rio Artibonito34 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

!PMap 7. The Artibonite watershed and the Central PlateauN O R D!PCap-HaïtienHinche!PDajabón !P!P!PPedernalesLa Victoire72°W!PSan !P Juan!PJimaní Neiba!P!P!P!P!PVallièresMont-OrganiséN O R D - E S TCapotilloWelchCanaWelchChevalierLamineLamineRestauraciónCapotilleChevalierLoma De CabreraCerros de ChacueyD A J A B O NGuayubinAlto MaoIRCerca-Carvajalkivière LibonGuayayayucoPasse TiloryNalga de MacoArmando BermúdezHincheCerca-la-SourceEl CortekRio Joc aRivière GuayamoucThomassiquePedro SantanaBanicaCerro de San FranciscoRio TocinoTocino19°NThomondekC E N T R ECarabelaRio ArtibonitoE L I A S P I N A12Rio MacasiaRio YabonicoRoy SecElías PiñaLas MataskkkLac de PeligreLAC DE PELIGREBelladèreEl LlanoLascahobasPoulieDos Bois RougeBaptisteLa RanchaS A N J U A NSalt production zone CornillonDamsRivière Fer à ChevalRI O MACASIALegend)llkMangroveMarine protected areaTerrestrial protected areaReforestation brigadeCharcoal production hotspots! ! ! Area of intensive charcoal production! ! !Bi-national markets)Main border crossingWaterflowIntermittent riverWatershed boundaryRivi ère GascogneLos CacheosSavenetteO U E S T1kLos BotaosI N D E P E N D E N C I ALas Caobas La DescubiertaSierra de NeibaEl CercadoLos ArroyosJuan SantiagoBarreroDatum: WGS 84UTM Zone 18NSources:MINUSTAHUN Cartographic SectionB A O R U C O0 4 8LAGO ENRIQUILLOKmThe boundaries and names Lago shown Enriquillo and the designations e Isla Cabritos used on this map do not imply official endorsement by the United Nations. UNEP UNEP - 2012 2013.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone35

Map 8. The area surrounding the lakes!PCap-Haïtien!PDajabón !P!P!P72°W!PLac de PeligreLAC DE PELIGREBelladèreElías PiñaEl LlanoI!PHinche!PSan !P Juan!PJimaní Neiba!PPedernales!P!P!PPoulieLascahobasDos Bois RougeC E N T R ERivière Fer à ChevalSavenetteBaptisteE L I A S P I N ALos BotaosRJuan SantiagoLos Arroyosi vière GascogneCornillonLas Lajas, area of charcoalproduction and transit.Sierra de NeibaBarr ero1kkLac AzueiLimit in 2012Limit in 2004Boca de Cachón, area ofcharcoal production & transit.Los CacheosLas CaobasLa DescubiertaGantierLos RíosFond ParisienO U E S TRavine de Dyab,one major entry point for charcoalfrom the Dominican RepublickRivière Blanc heJimaníRivière SolietteFonds-VerrettesLago Enriquillo e Isla CabritosLago EnriquilloLAGO ENRIQUILLOLAGUNA EN MEDIOI N D E P E N D E N C I A4ZapotenPuerto Escondido, area of charcoalproduction.2Réserve Forêt des ¨PinsLegendSalt production zoneBelle-AnseDams)Reforestation brigadelCharcoal production hotspots! ! !! ! ! Area of intensive charcoal productionGrand-Gosier! ! ! Bi-national marketsl)kMangroveMarine protected areaTerrestrial protected areaMain border crossingWaterflowIntermittent riverWatershed boundaryS U D - E S TThiotteGarreauPlateau de CedreGarreauPlateau de CedreBonyTesulJaragua - Bahoruco - EnriquilloPedernale sSierra de BahorucoP E D E R N A L E SBony0 3 6BananeKmThe boundaries and names shown and the designations Banane used on this map do not imply official endorsement by the United Nations. UNEP UNEP - 2012 2013.Li be nRobinso nHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone37

point for charcoalican Republic!PMap 9. The southern coast and Pedernales watershedCap-HaïtienHinche!P!PDajabón !P!P!P!PFonds-VerrettesISan !P Juan!PJimaní Neiba!P!PO U E S TZapotenI N D E P E N D E N C I A2!PPedernales!P!PRéserve Forêt des ¨PinsPedernalesGarreauThiottePlateau deCedreTesul1Los ArroyosS U D - E S TSierra de BahorucokGrand-GosierBonyBananekLibenJaragua - Bahoruco -EnriquilloP E D E R N A L E SRobinson6Zone d'irrigationZone de refugiesSalinePedernalesAnse-à-Pitre18°NCabo Rojo,Bahía de las AguilasJaraguaLegend)llkMangroveMarine protected areaTerrestrial protected areaSalt production zoneDamsReforestation brigadeCharcoal production hotspots! ! ! Area of intensive charcoal production! ! !Bi-national markets)Main border crossingWaterflowIntermittent riverWatershed boundaryDatum: WGS 84UTM Zone 18NSources:MINUSTAHUN Cartographic Section0 2 4KmThe boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement by the United Nations. UNEP UNEP - 2012 2013.Cabo Rojo-BahÕ a de las Aguilas38 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

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

Case study 1. Food insecurity in the border zoneSocio-economic surveys of the Haitian side of the two watersheds, Pedernales and Massacre, were undertaken by theEarth Institute of Columbia University and the Haitian State University. They found that food insecurity was the mainconcern of most households. The lack of sufficient food to cover the daily needs of the population drives much of thecross-border movement, and the expansion of detrimental practices, such as charcoal production, seen in these areas.In respect to household concerns, food insecurity was followed by lack of money, bad health and poor education.Figure 1 shows the level of food insecurity in the Massacre and Pedernales watersheds. It clearly shows that a largemajority of the population are experiencing a lack of sufficient food. ‘Severely food insecure’ is here defined as ahousehold that has experienced running out of food or going to bed hungry at some point over the past 30 days.‘Moderately food insecure’ is defined as a household that has cut back on quantity by reducing the size of meals ornumber of meals, rarely or sometimes, but not running out of food, or going to bed hungry.Figure 1. Food insecurity in the Massacre and Pedernales watersheds.Massacre (n=159)Pedernales(n=70)Food SecureSeverely Food InsecureModerately Food InsecureFood SecureSeverely Food InsecureModerately Food InsecureIn terms of demographics, having a higher number of children relates positively to higher food insecurity scores in theMassacre watershed, while gender seems to be independent from food insecurity levels. Interestingly there appear tobe significant differences in food security across eco-zones. There is a higher prevalence of people who are severelyfood insecure in the middle altitude and mountainous areas (Figure 2), which suggests important differences in thelivelihood possibilities and levels of vulnerability between areas and communities in the watershed.Figure 2. Differences in food insecurity within the Pedernales watershedFood security levels across eco-zones -Pedernales (n=70)Food SecureModerately Food SecureSeverely Food InsecureCostal area Middle altitude area Montainous areaLevels of food security also vary throughout the year, with two peaks of food insecurity for each watershed. The firstone occurs at the end of the dry season in March – April in the Massacre area and slightly later, in May – June, inthe Pedernales watershed. The second food insecurity peak is common to the two watersheds and takes place inOctober and November. It has a more powerful impact on the Massacre watershed (Figure 3).40 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Figure 3. Seasonality of food insecurityMonths with lack of foodacross watershedsTotal (n=224)Massacre(n=158)Pedernales(n=66)47%32%24%32%29%Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov DecThe household surveys also included information of livelihoods. Farming (defined as generating at least 40% of thetotal household income) and charcoal production, have a strong positive relationship with food insecurity. Familiesengaged in commerce were generally more food secure and not as poor.food insecurity on the Haitian side of the Massacreand Pedernales watersheds, a main concern formany Haitian households.The population on the Haitian side of the borderzone has increased much more quickly than it hasdone in the rest of the country. The populationsof the communities in the border zone for whichdata is available have grown by nearly 4% peryear, compared with 1.3% across the country asa whole. 152, 153, 154 The Haitian population in theborder zone is very young: 68% of people areunder 25 – a much higher percentage than inthe rest of the country. 155 The relative youth ofthe border population shows the attraction ofthe border zone for young – often unemployed –Haitians.Dominican RepublicIn the Dominican Republic, the border provincesare Montecristi, Dajabón, Elías Piña, Independencia,Pedernales, Bahoruco and SantiagoRodríguez, and these seven provinces represent22% of the national territory. However, only 5.2%of the total Dominican Republic population livesthere, leaving the region with a relatively lowpopulation density. The Dominican population hasa long history of internal migration away from therural areas towards the cities. This is particularly truein border zone provinces, which are the poorestrural parts of the Dominican Republic.According to a UNDP study on the socio-economiccontext of the Dominican border region, 156 theborder provinces of Dominican Republic showlevels of poverty higher than the national average.Close to 28% of the Dominican border populationlive in extreme poverty, while 54% live in poverty.The incidence of extreme poverty in the borderzone is twice that of the rest of the country. Inthe Dajabon and Pedernales provinces, extremepoverty reaches 27.6% and 25.9% respectively,while poverty reaches 51.6% and 57.5%. 157 Anotherstudy shows similar results, highlighting the weakerand poorer states of provinces along the border.For example, malnutrition rates for children belowthe age of five are higher in the border provinces(ranging from 16 – 23%) than in the average of thecountry (10%). 158MigrationThe great majority of the migration by landbetween the two countries is Haitians travelling tothe Dominican Republic, both legally and illegally.The limited migration in the opposite direction ismainly Dominican businessmen and skilled labouron short term visits.Large scale short-term and long-term migrationfrom Haiti to the Dominican Republic occursall along the border zone. Some of the Haitianmigrants spread out throughout the DominicanRepublic, looking for work as unskilled labour inHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone41

the agriculture, construction or tourism industry. 159A majority of Haitians crossing the border, however,stay in the border region, where the main sourceof income is to work within agriculture as unskilledlabour (see chapter 4 for more on transboundaryagriculture). 160 It is estimated that up to one millionHaitians live in the Dominican Republic, and thatmore than 90% of the agricultural workforce areHaitians, the majority of them undocumentedmigrants.Many Haitians cross the border for short periods oftime. There are five main reasons for this:––Purchasing food.––Looking for employment or land to farm.––Engage in trade at the bi-national markets thatexist along the border.––Take advantage of services offered on theDominican side, such as schools, hospitals oruniversities.––Engage in illegal activities such as charcoalmaking or collection of firewood.The border zone is the poorest and least accessiblepart of the Dominican Republic; many Dominicanshave sold or are leasing their land and havemoved to the cities. 161 Nevertheless the Dominicanside of the border area is still more prosperous thanmost places in Haiti, and so is attractive to Haitiansin search of a livelihood.When seen together, the Haitian and Dominicanpopulation and poverty trends for the borderzone indicate that a very significant change istaking place. Simply put, Illegal immigrants fromHaiti are replacing the vacating Dominican ruralunderclass in the border zone. The pace of thischange increased dramatically after the 2010earthquake, when a surge of Haitians immigratedillegally to the Dominican Republic. 1623.4 Transboundary tradeTrade is one of the key features of the borderzone, connecting the two countries, and creatinginterdependencies between the two populations.Haiti is the Dominican Republic’s second mostimportant trade partner, receiving 16.9% of itsexports in 2011. 163 The most frequently tradedgoods were cotton fabrics (appr. 38%), steel rods(6%), cement (4%), and food, for example wheatflour and rice. 164 The Dominican Republic is Haiti’sthird most important export destination. 165 The mostcommon Hatian exports are cotton products (71%),ropes (7%), mobile phones (5%), pants (4%), andshirts (3%). 166In 2010, 872 million US dollars worth of goodspassed though official channels from DominicanRepublic to Haiti, and 24 million US dollars worthwent the other way. 167 The real volume of trade is ofcourse much larger than those numbers suggest,as there is a great deal of unofficial trade betweenthe two countries.Commerce is important to the people of theborder area. Only agriculture generates moreincome, and there are 14 bi-national markets scatteredaround the border, the largest of which arethose at Ouanaminthe-Dajabon, Comendador(Elias Piña)-Belladére, and Pedernales-Anse. 168Twelve of these fourteen bi-national markets are inthe Dominican Republic but most of the vendorsare Haitians, who either live in the DominicanRepublic or who have crossed the border onmarket day.The agricultural products that are most frequentlysold by Haitians to Dominicans in those bi-nationalmarkets are avocadoes, pois congo, mangoes,livestock, such as goats, cows and free-rangechickens, coffee, passion fruits, chadeques,oranges, rice, corn, garlic, beans and clairin (astrong, alcoholic drink). 169 There is a healthy tradein fish at both the coastal extremities of the borderarea. Generally speaking Dominicans buy bigfish that are destined for restaurants and hotels,whereas Haitians tend to buy smaller, cheaper fishthat they consume at home.The increase in trade between the two countriesis a very positive development that presents thepeople of the border area with opportunities tocreate better living conditions for themselves,gain access to capital, and to improve relationsbetween communities on both sides of the border.There is a good deal of illegal trade betweenthe two countries and it is driven entirely by thedifference between the two import tariff regimes.Goods that are cheap on one side of the border –because they are subsidized or lightly taxed – can42 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

e sold for a profit on the other side. It is estimatedthat more than 70% of the agricultural producesold across the border by Haitians to Dominicanswas not produced in Haiti but was imported therefrom abroad. 170 Rice imported and subsidized fromthe USA, for example, is cheaper than that whichis available in the Dominican Republic. Similarly,imported chemical fertilizer that is sold to Haitianfarmers at subsidized prices is also sold to farmers inthe Dominican Republic at higher prices. The othersignificant illegal trade is that in charcoal, which isdiscussed in more detail in chapter 5.The value of goods traded unofficially betweenthe two countries is estimated to be at least equalto that of goods traded officially. 171 A study conductedin 2001 estimated that the value of officialagricultural trade between the two countries wasUSD 10 million per year, while that of the informalagricultural trade was 40 – 60 million US dollars. 172In accordance with the latter figure another study,conducted between July 2004 and June 2005,estimated that the value of agricultural goodscrossing the border through informal trade at themain border crossings amounted to 46 millionUS dollars. 173 Illegal trade is similar in character tolegal trade, in that the majority of goods sold –more than 80% – were sold from the DominicanRepublic to Haiti.The customs of the two countries have animportant role to play in respect to the cross-bordermovement of people, as well as the cross-bordertrade of various goods.The regional UNEP office has been supervising theimplementation of the “Green Customs Initiative”(GCI), the purposes of which are “to enhance thecapacity of customs and other relevant enforcementpersonnel to monitor and facilitate the legaltrade and to detect and prevent illegal trade inenvironmentally-sensitive commodities coveredby the relevant conventions and multilateralenvironmental agreements (MEAs).” 174 This globalinitiative was designed to inform customs officialsaround the world about the international legalcontext in which they work. 175The Dominican Republic has a Green CustomsUnit that is dedicated to the enforcement of rulesThe bi-national market in Ouanaminthe-Dajabon is the largest of the 14 markets in the border zone. Tradeand smaller scale commercial relationships between the two populations bring important income to both,and also serve to connect them by building mutually beneficial interdependencies.© UNEPHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone43

elating to the trade in commodities that are setdown in the Multilateral Environment Agreementsamong other laws. The unit works very closely withother ministries and in particular with the Ministryof Environment.3.5 Transboundary cooperationIn the past, both governments have tended toignore the border zone as a focus for development,unless their attention was drawn to it bya security issue. However, that attitude has nowchanged. Both governments are concernedabout the potential for instability in the area andincreasingly cooperate with one another formallyand informally.Although they are by no means equal in level,scale, funding, continuity or impact, the four mostimportant transboundary mechanisms identifiedby the assessment team are:• The Joint Dominican-Haitian Bilateral Commission.• Border development agencies.• Local level cooperation platforms.• The Parliamentary border commission.The Joint Dominican-Haitian BilateralCommission (“Commission mixtebinationale”)The commission was created in 1996 and is theonly existing bilateral and political decision-makingforum (chaired by the two Presidents in plenarysession and by relevant ministers when thematiccommissions meet), which address all themesrelated to cooperation (including the environment)between the two countries.In a positive development, the presidents of thetwo countries have met several times in 2012, andhave signed accords dealing with border securityand trade, the most significant of which are:––Memorandum of understanding between theministries of planning.––Memorandum of understanding on bordersecurity.––The Bolivarian fund for solidarity with Haiti.––Memorandum of understanding on crossbordertransportation.In Dominican Republic, the Joint Commission hasan Executive Secretary who works under the aegisof the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is funded by theEU, and has the mandate to propose, design,formulate and channel funding to projects. Thereis no such office in Haiti.Border development agenciesBoth countries have development agenciesthat deal exclusively with the border area. Inthe Dominican Republic there is the GeneralDirectorate for Border Development (DGDF), andin Haiti there is the Transboundary DevelopmentCommission (Fonds interministériel pour ledéveloppement transfrontalier).The two agencies are very different. The Dominicanentity has staff working all along the border,whereas the Commission in Haiti for the last fewyears consisted of just one man with little or nofinancial means and has now been closed. TheHaitian Government plans to replace the commissionwith a national council that will coordinatethe management of transboundary issues calledthe Conseil national de coordination de la gestiontransfrontalière. So at the time of writing the DGDFdoes not have a Haitian counterpart but despitethat it does assist Haitian border communities onan ad hoc basis. 176Local level cooperation platformsAt the local level, the mayors and other authoritieshave daily and often very constructive contact withtheir counterparts on the other side of the border,defusing tensions and settling disputes. One suchexample can be found in case study 2.These relationships are mostly informal but thereare some more institutionalized structures likethe Association of the Mayors of the Border, themembers of which live right along the Haitianborder, or the Intermunicipal TransboundaryCommittee, which was created when mayorsfrom Elias Piña province (Dominican Republic)and Plateau Central (Haiti) started working togetherto find and solve shared problems. One morenotable example of institutionalized co-operationis that of fishermen who have formed associationsin Pedernales (Dominican Republic) and Anseà-Pitre(Haiti). That phenomenon is dealt with inchapter 7.44 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

viCase study 2. Comité Intermunicipal Transfronterizo (CIT) –Cooperation between mayors in the central border zoneElias Piña in the Dominican Republic has long been the poorest province of the Dominican Republic: 47% of the peoplethere live in extreme poverty and 31% of them are illiterate. 177 In 2006 a group of newly appointed mayors met to try tosolve some of their communities’ problems and concluded that their success would depend upon their collaboratingeffectively with their Haitian counterparts. So in 2008 12 mayors – six from each side – formed the IntermunicipalTransboundary Committee (Comité Intermunicipal Transfronterizo [CIT]). viIn the beginning the committee’s operations were quite small – they cleaned parks and improved roads and paths.But over the years the projects have grown more ambitious. They have repaired crucial cross-border trading routes,created job opportunities for women, restored buildings, set up micro-credit schemes for farmers and small businesses,improved access to water resources, given young Haitians the chance to study in the Dominican Republic, and builtone plant to purify water as well as another to process fruit. 178This transboundary initiative is unique. It is an institutionalized network of local authorities that spreads across theborder area that is driven by the engaged mayors and public officials, led by the mayor of Elias Piña, Mr. Luis Miniel,rather either of the central governments, from which it receives little funding or support. It relies to a great extent on itsown efficiency and on the relationships it has built with national and international organizations. The improvement ofthe Commendador (Dominican Republic) – Belladère (Haiti) road was, for example, carried out in co-operation with,and partly funded by, development organizations.Interestingly the committee also secured money forthe project from city coffers, and from local tradersand businessmen whose interests will be served bythe road.The committee members are motivated by theirshared belief that their cooperation can function as theengine that will lift the people of the border area outof poverty. At the forefront of their strategy is an effortto facilitate the movement of and trade in agriculturaland artisanal goods both across the border and toother parts of the two countries. And although thecommittee has not resolved any disputes, it hasstrengthened relationships and helped resolve manyproblems before they develop into deeper conflicts.This local level cooperation initiative involving six Dominicanand six Haitian communities in the central parts of the borderzone, engages in activities that range from improving roads andfacilitating access to markets, all the way to engaging womenin small scale business and microcredit schemes. Their overallaim is to alleviate poverty in the central border zone.Comité Intermunicipal TransfronterizoThis cooperation is, however, still to a large extentdependent upon personal relationships between afairly small amount of people. Indeed cooperationstalls whenever a new mayor is appointed in anyof the constituent towns. Only a greater degree offormalization would guarantee its survival.Haitian Parliamentary Commissionfor Border DevelopmentCreated in 2007 this commission plays a keyrole in helping parliamentarians understand theimportance of the border region and its economicpotential. In 2008, it organized a national forumon borderland issues that secured funding forinfrastructure projects in Belladère, Ouanaminthe,and Anse-á-Pitre. 179, 180 Although the commissionis less active today than it once was, it could wellhave an important role to play in developingthe border zone, and in fostering transboundarycooperation.3.6 Development aid in the borderareaThere is no permanent register of development aidprojects in the border area. As a result, any listingcan only be considered a snapshot, and is likelyto be incomplete. This assessment found sevenrelevant projects:• Revegetation and transboundary naturalresources management project (MPP) – Thisproject is part of an overall initiative calledFrontera Verde, which aims to reforest the bordervi The towns involved were Pedro Santana, Bánico, Comendador, El Llano, Hondo Valle and Juan Santiago in the DominicanRepublic, and Cerca-la-Source, Thomassique, Thomonde, Lascahobas, Belladère and Savannette in Haiti.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone45

area, and consists of four main components: • Bi-national Project in the Artibonite Watershed –reforestation, capacity building, activities The aim of this project is to resolve water-relateddemonstrating sustainable socio-economic conflicts in the bi-national Artibonite River basinactivities, and bi-national cooperation.and to develop a joint bi-national action plan• Libon Verde – The two goverments, supportedfor the management of shared resources in theby the Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleArtibonite watershed. 183Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), are starting this project • Nuestra Frontera – Fwontyè Nou – This Panwhich will be similar in character and purpose American Development Foundation initiativeto the MPP.aims to reduce poverty, strengthen relations• Caribbean Biological Corridor – This EU, Global between Haiti and the Dominican Republic,Environment Facility (GEF) and World Food and promote collaboration in the borderProgramme (WFP) funded project aims to area. 184define and then create a biological corridor • International Organization for Migration’sbetween Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican (IOM) Cross-Border & Migration ManagementRepublic in an effort to restore ecosystems andproject – IOM Haiti is running some migrationreduce biodiversity losses. 181management programmes that pay particular• UNDP ART initiative – This local development, attention to border management, assistingwhich has so far been largely focused on the DominicanRepublic, has recently become active and strengthening cross-border and regionalvoluntary return, fighting human trafficking,in the border area, working to reinforce the capacitiesof women in the north of the border. 182 border security.cooperation on migration management and185As this sign points out, the Revegetation and Transboundary Natural Resources Management Project (MPP)has brought together the two governments, three UN organizations, and the government of Norway to workjointly to increase transboundary cooperation and to ameliorate the situation in the border zone.© UNEP46 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Part 2 Identification andAnalysis of Key Issues4 Agriculture –the dominant activityin the border zone4.1 IntroductionAgriculture is the most important economic activityin the border zone in both countries. In Haiti it isoverseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, NaturalResources and Rural Development (MARNDR), and inthe Dominican Republic by the Ministry of Agriculture.Within this section, the term agriculture refers tofarming and livestock keeping only and not toforestry or fishing, which are addressed in sectionsfive and seven respectively.HaitiFarming is the dominant economic activity andlivelihood option in the border zone. Farmingon the Haitian side of the border zone appearsto follow the Haitian national model, with slashand-burnagriculture being the most widely usedtechnique. Farms vary in size, from 0.25 – 5 ha.with an average of 1.5 ha. 186 Farmers commonlyrely on sharecropping to secure access to land.Sharecropping is a form of leasing (“métayage” or“moitié-moitié”) in which an owner offers his land toa farmer for cultivation in exchange for a portion ofthe harvest. When not sharecropping, farm workersare often hired as laborers.Agricultural productivity is very low because theland is degraded, the plots are small and thereare few if any modern agricultural inputs. Mostfarms in the zone are owned by families practicingsubsistence agriculture to produce corn, manioc,rice, sorghum, beans, sweet potato and plantain,coffee and beef. 187Dominican RepublicThe border zone is among the poorest regionsin the Dominican Republic and has the highestconcentration of poor households in the country.A large part of the population there, rely onagriculture for their daily subsistence. Poverty levelsare highest in the Elias Piña province in the centralparts of the border zone, where 82 per cent of thepopulation live in poverty. Levels of poverty are attheir lowest in the Dajabon province in the north,where 56 per cent live below the poverty line. 188Most farms in the zone are small and farmerspractice slash-and-burn techniques to produceannual crops, which is in contrast with the situationin the Dominican Republic as a whole, whereagriculture is increasingly mechanized and oftenon a large scale. Large scale agriculture within theborder zone is confined to the northern parts of theMassacre watershed.Traditionally many Dominican farmers grow fruitssuch as oranges, lemons and avocados, whichrequire years of cultivation. In contrast, Haitiansfarming land in the Dominican Republic producemainly beans and corn which require only a shortstay in the country. 189 Small scale crop farming inDominican Republic generally follows the Haitianmodel in that the moitié-moitié land leasingsystem is the most common, but there are alsoother arrangements, like renting the land for ¼ – asopposed to half – of the crops, or Haitians simplysquatting on land vacated by Dominicans. 1904.2 Key issuesThree key issues were identified for the agriculturalsector, which are relevant to the border zone andso are addressed in this report:• Land tenure.• Land degradation.• Transboundary agriculture.The agricultural sector in Haiti and the DominicanRepublic has a plethora of other national scaleHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone47

Satellite image 1. The scale of agriculture differs greatly between the two countries as can be clearly seenhere in the north of the border zone. Farms in the Dominican Republic are getting bigger and are increasinglymechanized while their Haitian counterparts remain small and still have few modern agricultural inputs.IHaitiDominican RepublicS m a l l s c a l e a g r i c u l t u r eL a r g e s c a l e a g r i c u l t u r eH a ii t iiD o m i n i c a n R e p u b l i cMeters0 160 320 480 640 800Source:GoogleEarthUNEP - 201348 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

and local issues. These include, for example, tradeliberalization and a flood of cheap or externallysubsidized imports, 191, 192 vulnerability to naturalhazards, policy weaknesses (particularly in Haiti),as well as weak supply chains and limited postprocessingpossibilities for agricultural produce inHaiti. These issues, do not, however fall under thescope of this study, as they were not identified in theassessment process as being specific to the borderzone, or fulfill the criteria used for determining keyissues, as detailed in chapter 1.3.4.3 Land TenureUnderstanding and addressing the issues relatedto land tenure is important in order to developsuccessful strategies for agricultural practices, notonly in the border zone, but throughout the twocountries.Much of Haitian land officially belongs to the state,but there is no functioning national cadastralsystem. Left with no alternative, many peasantscultivate state lands or harvest wood from themillegally. In rural Haiti, informal arrangementsregarding land tenure are more important thanformal titles, which are demonstrably moreexpensive and less flexible. Land tenure rangesfrom direct access by virtue of ownership to indirectaccess through tenancy or usufruct. According toa USAID study, investment decisions are basedon the duration of access to a plot regardless offormal tenure. Duration of access depends on afarmer’s social capital, economical means andposition in the society. 193 The Haitian Institute ofAgrarian Reform (INARA), which researched landtenure, concluded that “the judicial system isincapable of guaranteeing land tenure securityeven for those able to take full advantage of it”. 194This situation reduces incentives for people tomake long term and productive investments onplots of which they might be dispossessed. Theresulting land insecurity also “creates a reticenceor even the fear of investment and promotes theemergence of conflict and violence.” 195This lack of a functioning land tenure system inHaiti creates several different problems. Some ofthe most outstanding are: a) unclear land tenuresystems that result in the depletion of resourcesas farmers are only prepared to invest in landthat they own or can confidently control for longperiods (including depletion of forest resources,lack of erosion control and the development ofunsustainable agricultural practices); b) physicalaggression and/or lack of collaboration of differentindividuals and groups claiming the propertyof the same lands; and c) absence of the landowners (or their representatives) of large areas ofland (locally called “grandons”), leaving large landareas without control or appropriate use.The issue of land tenure is not creating as significantproblems in most parts of the Dominican territory.This is partly as a result of a modern and functioningcadastral system, 196 although some problems, forexample in respect to land ownership involvingoverlapping claims exist. The border province ofElias Piña seems to be the exception in this regard inthe Dominican Republic, where problems relatingto land tenure seems to be particularly prevalent. 197According to government officials, very few peoplehere own the lands they use. Usually, problemsoccur when farmers have been using governmentlands, as under normal circumstances ownershipof the land, over time, would go by right to theperson farming it. That process could well becontested by the government not least because,as in Haiti, the system is not formalized, and itoften results in problems and conflicts over landownership in this province. 1984.4 Land degradationLand degradation is widespread, but varies greatlyin severity, right across the border zone. In general,land degradation is much more severe andwidespread on the Haitian side, however there aresignificant degradation hotspots on the Dominicanside as well. The most severe degradation is notedin the northern and central parts of the Haitianborder zone.The most common forms of degradation notedare: a) topsoil loss through erosion; b) soil nutrientdepletion and compaction; and c) watercoursedrying and bed expansion. Soil erosion is noted inall of its forms: sheet, rill and gully erosion.Deforestation and vegetation loss are the first stepsto degradation: trees removed are not replacedwith adequate perennial vegetation cover andwater erosion proceeds rapidly. Reduced waterretention results in flash flooding which transportsHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone49

sediment and widens the watercourses, but alsoresults in rapid drying out of the watercoursebetween flood events.Field observations by the assessment team noticedthat the worst degradation in the Haitian borderzone is almost completely irreversible, due to anear total loss of productive topsoil across wideareas. While vegetation is still visible in such areas,the productivity of the remaining exposed subsoil isso low that agriculture would not be economicallyviable and reforestation will be difficult.Land clearing for agriculture, including the use offire (slash-and-burn) is one of the main drivers forland degradation in the border zone. On both sidesof the border, land is usually cleared by slashingand burning. Any trees that can be used as fuelor in the production of charcoal are removed andthe remaining brush and rough grasses are seton fire. The remaining ash acts as a fertilizer andgives the soil a short term fertility boost. Annualcrops are then planted in time for the rainy season.However, as most agricultural land in the borderzone is sloped, the rains rapidly remove the ashand topsoil. In addition fire usually spreads beyondthe fields targeted in the process, often resulting inuncontrollable forest fires, which further degradethe land.In the absence of soil conditioning and conservation,the depleted soils on cleared land commonlydrops in productivity after 1-3 years. 199 It is thenno longer in a state suitable to produce sufficientcrops and is commonly left uncultivated for anumber of years. In the interim the land may selfrevegetate.However, in many cases it is subjectto grazing by cattle, sheep and goats, whichsuppresses brush and tree re-growth and results inan exposed landscape of very short grasses and200, 201animal trails.Due to a shortage of land, farmers often try tostart another slash and burn cycle before sufficientvegetation cover and fertility has returned. The landis by then so degraded that it proves unproductive– a situation that has direct and obviousconsequences for food insecurity and poverty inLand degradation in general and severe erosion in particular are visible throughout the border zone, and areespecially severe on the Haitian side.© UNEP50 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Lacking productive topsoil this land in Haiti is now barren and no longer suitable for farming.© UNEPthe area. Faced with a failure to secure sufficientfood and income from crops, Haitian farmers in theborder region, as elsewhere, look for other sourcesof income, like charcoal production, or migrate tothe cities or across the border to the DominicanRepublic. In addition land degradation leads towater shortages, which in turn reinforce povertyand help to drive the rural exodus.The long term result of this destructive cycle ishighly visible throughout the hills of Haiti in general,and in the border zone in particular. The hillsidesare a patchwork of cropped fields, and bare,degraded, or partially recovering land with short,rough vegetation. Sheet erosion has removed alarge percentage of the topsoil and deep rills andgullies are prevalent.A near total absence of erosion control measuresfor cleared land on slopes is another drivercausing land degradation, 202, 203 as is tree cuttingfor energy – both charcoal and fuel wood, andincluding the practice of burning the forest to justifythe cutting of dead trees (dealt with in more detailin chapter five).It is important to note that destructive land useand land degradation is also common on theDominican side of the border. The key differenceswith Haiti are that the land degradation is morelocalized and the cycle is generally at an earlierstage. Destructive practices are used mainlyby Haitian immigrants, albeit often workingin co-operation with Dominican landowners.Nonetheless, based on observed trends, selectedparts of the Dominican Republic are headinginto exactly the same severe land degradationsituation as is observed in Haiti.4.5 Transboundary agricultureThe main direction of people engaged in transboundaryagriculture is from Haiti to the DominicanRepublic. The large majority of farmers andagricultural laborers in the Dominican Republic ingeneral, and in the border zone in particular, areHaitians, most of them having come to the countryillegally. 204, 205 Their main agricultural practice isslash and burn, and their main crop is beans. 206Some of them farm as tenants or sharecroppers,others squat on private or public land – includingHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone51

Slash and burn agriculture and overly intensive farming cycles have degraded the land by leaving the topsoilexposed to heavy rain, which washes it away. In addition, these practices frequently result in forest fires.© UNEPprotected areas – some cross the border for ashort period of time, others have settled in theDominican Republic. Indeed some Dominicancommunities have large, well-integrated Haitianpopulations. 207The cross-border dynamic in agriculture is, howevertwo-way. Some Dominicans engage in farmingactivities in Haiti, usually providing Haitian farmerswith seedlings and materials, and tasking themwith cultivating land. The crops – in particular ricein the northern and central provinces – is then soldback to Dominicans at a low price. 208Social issues linked to transboundaryagricultureSeveral issues arise from the fact that manyHaitians regularly cross the border illegally to workin agriculture and farm the land on the Dominicanside. It is worth noting that the numbers increaseddramatically following the earthquake in Haitiin 2010. 209, 210, 211 The main concern for Haitianscrossing the border is the lack of rights that theyenjoy once in the Dominican Republic, whereasDominicans are concerned about governanceand security, particularly where Haitians are settlingillegally on vacant land and in protected areas.Many Haitians complain of being robbed orarrested when they return to Haiti after a stintof migrant work and there are some accountsof illegal immigrants being forced to work inagriculture, although this is a bigger problem inthe construction sector. A study conducted in 2009found that 21% of the Haitian construction workersinterviewed reported that they had had at sometime been forced to work while in the Dominican212, 213Republic.Most agriculture related labour problems occur insugar cane production. Approximately 80% of sugarcane workers are of Haitian descent and are oftenrecruited by Dominicans in Haiti, sometimes withthe promise of well-paid work, and then broughtacross the border illegally and undocumented. 214The conditions sometimes border on those offorced labor, and there are some accounts ofHaitian workers being rounded up and forced towork on the sugar plantations for less than US $2.50a day, and of employers withholding wages. 215Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone53

5 Forest resources andterrestrial protected areamanagement5.1 IntroductionForestry and protected area management issuesin the border area are truly transboundary in natureand an important source of conflict. Essentiallythe demand for timber for energy and forestedland for farming is much stronger on the Haitianside, whereas the bulk of the remaining timberand effectively all of the government managedforested land is on the Dominican side. The borderis porous and governance is effectively absent onthe Haitian side and variable on the Dominicanside. As a result there is a large scale, illegal crossborder movement of charcoal and fuel woodfrom the Dominican side to Haiti and destructiveinvasion of Dominican forests and national parks.The critical issue specific to forest resources andprotected areas is that incidents of tree cutting,charcoal making, fire clearing, and crop plantinghave the potential for generating violent conflictat the local level. People have already been killedas a result of this issue.Resolving this issue should be a top priority for bothgovernments. This chapter explores this and otherinterlinked forestry and protected area managementissues and opportunities in detail.Agriculture also has affected national parks andprotected areas in the Dominican Republic,although the problem has decreased substantiallyin recent years, as delimitations have been agreedMany Haitians cross the border illegally to farm inside Dominican protected areas.© UNEP54 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

and are enforced by the government. There arestill, however, many people crossing over from Haitifarming illegally and cutting trees and producingcharcoal inside the parks. 2165.2 Key issuesThe five key issues identified and dealt with in detailin this chapter are:––Forest clearance on private land in theDominican Republic and forest fires.––The uncontrolled transboundary charcoal trade.––Collection of fuel wood.––Protected areas management & biodiversity.––Reforestation efforts.On the positive side, the improvement of themanagement of forestry resources on both sidesof the border presents opportunities for greatercooperation across the border. The clearestexample is the MPP reforestation programmebut there are others such as the development ofsustainable livelihoods from fruit, coffee and honeyproduction and plant nurseries for example.5.3 Forest clearance on private landin the Dominican Republicand forest firesA substantial fraction of the forest remaining onthe Dominican side of the border zone is privatelyowned. A range of regulations are in place concerningthe right of private owners to cut trees andclear land. It is clear, however, that this practice isnot under control, at least in the border zone. BothDominicans and Haitians are implicated, so this isa clear transboundary issue.The most common form of forest land clearancehappens when Dominican landowners (oftenabsentee) and Haitian laborers join forces toproduce charcoal or farm under a sharecroppingor land leasing arrangement. Trees are cut forcharcoal and afterwards the land is cleared ofbrush and rough grass by burning. Annual cropsare planted for 1-3 years, after which the land istemporarily abandoned, allowing some level oftree regrowth before the cycle is repeated.This well-established practice has four clearnegative impacts:• Intense degradation of the farmed plots.• Forest fires started from plot burning.• Exporting the Haitian destructive system of landclearance and use back into the DominicanRepublic.• Eroding resource governance in the DominicanRepublic.Slash and burn agriculture, for example, resulted ina record 72 forest fires in 2011, and 32 fires duringthe first four months of 2012, in Elias Piña Province(Dominican Republic) alone. 217 According to someaccounts, forest fires resulting from slash and burnagriculture cause even more deforestation onthe island than tree felling for energy productionpurposes. 218 Most of these fires occur in the CentralMountain Range, the Sierra de Bahoruco, or inadjacent protected areas, during the dry season(Feb-April and July-August). The fires usually happenat the time when peasants are clearing theland by slashing and burning. 219 During communityinterviews, the assessment team was also informedthat forest fires, including fires inside national parks,are sometimes deliberately started by people whothen use this as an excuse to harvest the deadtrees. Forest fires occur in both countries andfrequently spread across the border. The team wasalso told by reforestation brigades that they areworking to sensitize communities to the dangersof using fire to clear land. 2205.4 The uncontrolled transboundarycharcoal tradeAn estimated 75% of the Haitian population stillrely on firewood and charcoal for their daily energyneeds. While charcoal is produced in the ruralcountryside, most of it is consumed in urban areaswith an estimated 80% of it in Port-au-Prince alone.Rural inhabitants usually rely on firewood rather thancharcoal for cooking. Therefore, the production of,and transboundary trade in charcoal are largely221 222driven by the demand for it in Haitian cities.Despite the fact that a large portion of thecharcoal consumed in Haiti is produced there, asubstantial proportion of it is also produced in theDominican Republic and imported illegally andHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone55

Satellite image 3. In the Massacre Watershed, Haitian farmers lease land from Dominican landowners to farmbeans and to keep the land clear. Slash and burn is their method of choice, which, results in erosion and landdegradation. The law is unhelpful here in that it is in the interest of the Dominican landowner to keep vegetationdown, because if it grows above a certain height he is no longer allowed to clear it for agricultural use.H a i t iID o m i n i c a nR e p u b l icÜL a n d c l e a r e df o r f a r m i n gMeters0 210 420 630 840 10502 0 1 0Source: GoogleEarthUNEP - 201356 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

without any form of control into Haiti. The totalamount of charcoal produced in the DominicanRepublic and taken to Haiti is roughly estimatedat 50,000 tons per year, 223 and constitutes a tradeworth approximately USD 15 million (assuming aprice of USD 300 per ton). 224Widespread charcoal production and tradealong the borderTransboundary trade in charcoal happens allalong the border and mostly on a small scale:individual people or small groups in Haiti crossthe border either to cut trees for charcoal kilnsin Haiti, or to produce the charcoal in kilns inthe Dominican Republic, before transporting itacross the border. Reportedly, although charcoalproduction in the Dominican Republic is physicallycarried out by Haitians, it is nearly always under thesupervision of, or in collaboration with, Dominicans,be they land owners, truck drivers, forest parksguards, or army officers, who receive part of the225, 226profits.This trade is a main driver causing deforestation onthe Dominican side of the border zone. Governmentauthorities in Elias Piña Province, for example,mentioned that last year they found 32 charcoalkilns in one day, all of them manned by Haitians. 227Charcoal production and law enforcementThere seems to be a total absence of regulationand enforcement on the Haitian side. All of theactors involved in charcoal production that wereinterviewed by the team mentioned that they hadno interaction with Haitian authorities whatsoever.On the Dominican side however, the trade involvesrisks. Intermediary sellers whom the assessmentteam interviewed mentioned that producersCharcoal is produced in charcoal kilns – such as this one in the lower part of the Pedernales Watershed –that turn wood into charcoal by drying it.© UNEPHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone57

un the risk of being either imprisoned, seeingtheir production or cattle confiscated, or payingsubstantial amounts of money to Dominicanofficials in order to be released.Field interviews on the Haitian side also showthat charcoal production is a livelihood copingmechanism, especially for households that havelower asset values and higher risks of experiencingfood insecurity. Such households are significantlymore likely to produce charcoal, as a last resortto generate some income. Case study 3 providesexamples of the smaller scale charcoal productionthat is taking place in the northern and southernparts of the border zone, where there is a relativelysmall amount of transboundary trade in charcoal.That is true of the Massacre watershed in thenorth because state control is tighter there and ofPedernales watershed in the south because thereare no roads on which to take charcoal from theredirectly to Port-au-Prince. On the Haitian side ofthese two areas dry forest is also still abundantin the coastal regions, which is suitable for use indomestic charcoal production.In the bi-national market of Dajabón in the northof the island, the assessment team only saw onecharcoal maker who had had to obtain permitsthrough tax payments for all charcoal bags.However, according to interviews in Ouanaminthein the Massacre watershed, the main transboundarytrade of charcoal is happening mainly at nighttime or far away from border control posts wherethe border is porous. Two to three tons of charcoal isRoadside stacks of charcoal bags are a common sight on the Haitian side of the Massacre Watershed – herethey line the main road between Ouanaminthe and Cap Haitien.© UNEP58 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Two sailing boats arrive, on average, per day, to this site, called Ravin de Dyab in Haiti, a couple of kilometersfrom the border. Each boat is loaded with about 200 bags of charcoal, which adds up to approximately2,800 bags entering Haiti from the Dominican Republic per week at this one site alone.© UNEPreported to transit every week from the DominicanRepublic to Haiti in the Ouanaminthe area. 228Some accounts also suggest that since the 2010earthquake, people have gravitated in greaternumbers to charcoal production zones, but theassessment team has not, however, been able toverify that suggestion.Charcoal trade “hotspots”Compared to the smaller scale uncontrolledcharcoal trade that is widespread throughout theborder zone, larger scale and more organizedforms of this activity is concentrated mainly in theforest areas around Lakes Azuei and Enriquillo,and is more specifically concentrated in Boca deCachón, Las Lajas, Tierra Nueva, Puerto Escondidoand Bahoruco.An EU funded, cross-border project that, in 2009,studied the charcoal trade in the area aroundLakes Azuei and Enriquillo, 229 found that charcoalproduced in this area of the Dominican Republic(in the region of Boca de Cachón) is loaded ontrucks and transported to the Dominican shoresof Lake Azuei. From here it is shipped off to Haiti inboats that cross the lake, arriving on the southernHaitian shore, to a location called Ravin deDyab, lying next to the main road connecting theborder zone with Port-au-Prince. The charcoal’sfinal destination is Port-au-Prince, and morespecifically the wholesale and retail markets ofCroix de Bossales and Salomon. The assessmentteam observed thousands of bags of charcoal,which had been brought over from the DominicanRepublic, stacked at the side of the road in Ravinde Dyab, and estimated the number of bagsHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone59

eing transported from the Dominican Republicto Haiti to be approximately 2,800 bags per weekat this one site alone.The same EU funded project concluded that 86%of the charcoal produced in or transiting that area,originated in the Dominican Republic. 230 The illegalcharcoal trade produces 22,170 tons or 362,000bags a year, an amount 231 that correspondsto approximately half the estimated amount ofcharcoal traded between the two countries. Thisfigure also exceeds the Dominican Republic’stotal domestic charcoal consumption (i.e. 310,000bags). 232Charcoal Value ChainThe same EU funded study, as referred to earlier,found that the charcoal value chain is estimatedto generate employment for 150,000 peopleacross Haiti, including 67,000 charcoal makers,either on a full time or part time basis. 233 Primaryproducers receive approximately 50% of thetotal income generated; truck and boat driversreceive 25%, local intermediates 13%. “Tips andgifts” represent 12% of the total amount and aredistributed among all actors. 234 According to astudy, the value chain of transboundary charcoaltrade/production in the Lake Azuei and Enriquilloarea is relatively simple. The chain is composedof 200 mainly Haitian charcoal producers whoare assisted by a minimum of 12 Dominican truckdrivers, 235 and produce approximately 37,000 bagsof charcoal a month, which are then sold to atleast five traders/retailers who store them on thewest bank of the lake before transporting them toPort-au-Prince. 236© UNEPA member of the assessment team interviews Haitian charcoal producers in the north of the border zone.The more isolated and underemployed a community is the more likely it is to get involved in charcoal making.60 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Case study 3: Charcoal production in Haitian communities in Massacre and PedernalesThough time consuming and labor intensive, charcoal is an important cash crop for rural households. In the twowatersheds an average of 28% of households are engaged in charcoal production. Five out of the 20 communitiessurveyed, reported that at least 50% of the households were engaged in the production of charcoal at some pointin the year (Figure 4).Most of the charcoal produced in the Haitian part of Massacre and Pedernales is being produced from bayahonde(Prosopis juliflora), a fast-growing exotic invasive tree species able to survive in harsh, dry conditions. Logwood(Haematoxylum campechianum, also known as “bloodwood” or “Campêche”) is the next most common tree used.Fruit producing trees such as Caimito or mango trees are also used, but producers are preferentially cutting downolder, less productive trees of these varieties.Villages closer to transportation infrastructure, larger agglomerations or markets, seem less dependent on charcoalproduction. On the other hand, more isolated and rural communities with easier woodland access and more limitedjob opportunities appear more likely to engage in this activity as it requires neither formal education nor large capitalinvestments. Some communities in the upper watershed area in the Pedernales watershed are notable exceptionsto this trend. This is believed to be a result of the local coffee production, which represents an important source ofincome in these communities. The fact that coffee plants need shade probably explains why farmers are protectingthe tree cover in this area. Female-headed households also seem less likely than male-headed households to earnincome from charcoal production.Figure 4. Percentage of households producing charcoal by communityin the Massacre and Pedernales watershedsPercentage of household producing charcoal by community(n=229)75%70%50%50%57%38%33%30% 30%40%20%20%20%33%10%6% 7%0% 0% 0%Acul-des-pinsNearly 8 out of 10 charcoal producers have noticed a sizeable decrease in the quantity of wood available in the pasttwo years, probably because charcoal producers do not plant trees to replace those they have destroyed. Moreover,they do not allow the two to three years trees need in order to grow back to their normal size. Rather they cut thembefore they reach maturity, taking poorer quality wood, which means in turn that more wood is needed to producesimilar amounts of charcoal.Most small-scale Haitian charcoal producers interviewed in these two watersheds, make their charcoal in Haiti. Only9% of the Haitian charcoal producers interviewed collect or buy their wood in the Dominican Republic, while just 5%produce charcoal in the Dominican Republic, and when they do, it is always under the supervision or in collaborationwith Dominicans, with whom revenues are shared. If caught, the Haitians risk being severely punished, with severalaccounts of cases of mutilation or murder killing over the past ten years.The households interviewed in both watersheds had, been producing charcoal for an average of 14 years. However,nearly half of the charcoal producers in the Pedernales watershed started producing charcoal at some point in thepast five years, which suggests that this activity is relatively new for a significant amount of the population living inthis watershed.Despite its importance, charcoal production is not liked as a livelihood. Virtually all of the charcoal makers interviewedwould rather do something else, if they had the choice: charcoal production is perceived as being bad for health,physically demanding, poorly paid, illegal in some cases, and having negative impacts on the environment.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone61

5.5 Collection of fuel woodFuel wood is a large scale and transboundarydeforestation driver. The Haitian population onboth sides of the border uses fuel wood as theirprimary energy source for cooking and usehighly inefficient open fires. The Dominican ruralpopulation also uses fuel wood, but has accessto Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG). LPG is also usedby the residential sector in Haiti but accounts forless than 2% of the total final energy consumption237, 238in the country as a whole.Fuel wood is often in the form of branches and logsthat are collected in the vicinity of the household.However, the need for fuel wood often far exceedslocal supply, with people having to journey furtherafield, including over the border to find the fuelwood they need, as can be seen in case study 4.A minority of wood is also bought at local markets.© UNEPThis farmer had just chopped down one of the lasttrees in sight, explaining that the land here – on thePlateau Centrale, not far from the Artibonite Riverand the border with the DR – is no longer suitablefor farming because most of the topsoil is gone.Case study 4. The use of fuel wood among the rural populationSurveys of the households of families living on the Haitian side of theMassacre and Pedernales watersheds, show that fuel wood is theprimary source of energy for Haitians in these two areas. More than 70%of households in the Pedernales watershed use fuel wood use as theirprimary energy source, and in the Massacre watershed it is 80%. The useof LPG or mixed sources of energy is negligible, as can be seen in figure 5.Differences in fuel wood collection habits also provide a proxy for fuelwood scarcity and deforestation in these two watersheds. 16% ofsurveyed households in the Pedernales watershed buy wood from themarket, compared to 0% in the Massacre watershed. 33% of surveyedhouseholds in the Pedernales watershed cross the border to collect fuelwood compared to 10% in the Massacre watershed, which indicates thatwood is much scarcer in parts of the Pedernales watershed than it is inthe Massacre watershed.The majority of rural households in Haitiuse firewood as their main source ofenergy.© UNEPFigure 5. Primary energy source used for cooking meals in the Massacre and Pedernales watershedCharcoal16%Primary energy for cookingmeals - Massacre (n=159)Mix1%Primary energy for cookingmeals - Pedernales (n=70)Charcoal27%LP gas1%FirewoodChacoalMixFirewoodChacoalLP gasFirewood83%Firewood72%62 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Satellite image 4. The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is clearly visible, where it runs nextto the Artibonite river, close to the Dominican town of Pedro Santana. Charcoal production, slash and burnclearances, and forest fires have left the land denuded of trees, and rain has washed away the topsoil.IH a i t iD o m i n i c a nR e p u b l icD e n u d e d L a n di n H a ï t iPe dro Santan aÜForested a re a inDom inic an Repu blicMeters0 220 440 660 880 11002 0 1 0Source: GoogleEarthUNEP - 2013Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone63

!^5.6 Protected area management and biodiversityMap 10. Protected areas in the border zone20°NCuba72°WA t l a n t i c O c e a nCayos Sietes HermanosI71°W!^ives!PHaitiDominican RepublicPort-au-Prince Santo Domingo!^!^Cap-Haïtien!PLa Citadelle,Sans Souci,Ramiers!^[·!^Fort-Liberté!PMonte-Cristi!P!^!^!^!OuanamintheManglares delEstero BalsaLaguna !^Saladilla!^Dajabón!P!^Cerros deChacueyLas MatasMonte CristiVilla ElisaRío CanaEstero HondoMao!PEntrada de MaoBahÕ a Luper¾nPuerto Plata!PSantiago!P[·!^!^Alto MaoNalga de MacoArmando BermúdezAlto Bao!PHinche!^!^19°N!^!^José del Carmen RamÕ rezLac de Peligre!BelladèreElías Piña!PSan Juan!P[·GuanitoPORT-AU-PRINCESources Puantes[·!^Fort MercrediLas CaobasLos CacheosJimaní!PSierra de NeibaLago Enriquillo eIsla CabritosNeiba!PCabeza de ToroLoma del 20Azua!PJacmel!PLa VisiteFort Jacques andFort AlexandreRéserve Forêtdes Pins[·Barahona!PSierra de Bahoruco!^18°NLegend!^!PMarine protected areaTerrestrial protected areaInternational boundaryNational capitalDepartment/Province capitalC a r i b b e a nS e aAnse-à-Pitre!!P Pedernales[·Cabo Rojo, Bahíade las AguilasDatum: WGS 84UTM Zone 18NSources:MINUSTAHUN Cartographic Section0 10 20KmThe boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement by the United Nations. UNEP UNEP - 2012 2013.!^!^Jaragua64 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone!^

Illegal tree cutting for fuel wood inside protected areas in the Dominican Republic is a commonphenomenon, such as seen here in the Sierra de Bahoruco national park.© UNEPDominican protected areas close to the border arebeing significantly degraded by illegal activitiesconducted by Haitian immigrants, often with thecollusion of Dominicans. This is a problematicsituation which has already provoked small scalebut deadly conflict between Haitian immigrantsand Dominican park guards.In the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park in early2012, in the southern part of the border, a parkranger was killed by a Haitian charcoal makerwho had been apprehended inside the parkboundaries. This incident created tension betweenthe communities, as well as retaliation that saw atleast one Haitian killed. 239 This case also highlightedthe existing difficulties that can frustrate crossborder cooperation: Dominican authorities seethat there is little they can do if a criminal fleesover the border to Haiti. 240 Similarly, several Haitiansdescribed cases of mutilation or killing that havetaken place over the past ten years, when Haitiancharcoal makers have crossed into the DominicanRepublic. 241Environmentally detrimental activities occurringwithin protected areas are generally the sameas elsewhere in the border area: land is clearedfor agriculture, there are forest fires, firewood iscollected, and charcoal is produced. One featurethat is specific to land surrounding protectedareas and observed in the vicinity of the Sierra deBahoruco National Park is that of illegal settlements.Haitian farmers have moved into these areason a semi-permanent basis, establishing smallcommunities with churches and schools. 242The positive news is that the rate of deforestationhas decreased substantially in the past years in andaround Dominican protected areas in the borderzone. 243, 244 The borders of the parks have beenformalized and enforced. Sensitization campaignshave increased consciousness among the localcommunities on the importance of protecting the245, 246forest cover, and the environment in general.However the enforcement of regulations withinthe Dominican protected areas is still somewhatinconsistent. Episodic strong enforcement at someHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone65

locations is contrasted with a degree of tolerancein others.The most important protected area in the Haitianborder area is the Forêt de Pins in the south. Thisprotected area, as well as other protected areasin Haiti are under extreme pressure. 247 In practicalterms the enforcement of the Forêt de Pins nationalpark is non-existent and it has been rapidlydegraded and encroached, resulting in Haitiansinstead crossing the border into the adjacent Sierrade Bahoruco Park on the Dominican side.There is a need to halt the degradation andstrengthen the protected area systems in thetremendously bio-diverse border zone. The area’sdiverse geomorphology yields a great range ofhabitats that in turn sustain a wealth of flora andfauna so great that the border zone’s endemismand diversity indices are the highest in the Caribbean.The area boasts forests that range fromsea level to over 2000 m; bodies of water andwetlands that are considered the most importantof the insular Caribbean; and a wide variety ofagroecosystemsThe natural resources found in those variousecosystems are of considerable value to theborder zone’s human inhabitants, who use themfor firewood, charcoal, building materials, foodand medicine. Biodiversity also plays a notablerole in the production of ecosystem services andin tourism development of the area due to itsaesthetic value.It is worth noting how little is known about thespecies living in the area, particularly on the Haitianside. As each new scientific expedition to the areaidentifies a great number of species it remindsthe people of both countries and the scientificcommunity at large, of this alarming dearth ofknowledge.Some of the Haitians who cross into the Dominican Republic farm as tenants or sharecroppers, others squaton private or public land – including protected areas. Many settle and build small communities and someDominican communities have large, well-integrated Haitian populations, with their own schools, such as thisone just outside the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park.© UNEP66 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Satellite image 5. Farmland borders the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, in upper Pedernales Watershed.The Haitian protected area Forêt de Pin is just across the border. The formalization of park boundaries andimproved law enforcement have slowed the pace of the deforestation of Dominican protected areas butSierra de Bahoruco remains under a lot of pressure. Charcoal production, felling and stripping for fuel wood,and illegal farming all pose threats to the park’s forests.H a i t iID o m i n i c a nR e p u b l icÜBo rd er between fa rm landand Nation al ParkÜY o u n g b o y c u t t i n g t r e e si n s i d e t h e S i e r r a d e B a h o r u c oN a t i o n a l P a r kMeters0 90 180 270 360 4502 0 1 0Source: GoogleEarthUNEP - 2013Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone67

Enough is known, however, to be certain that thegenetic diversity of plants is under threat. Haiti, forexample, has more than 200 varieties of mangos,but is in the process of losing many of them as onlya few species are commercially valuable.5.7 ReforestationToday the forest cover in the Dominican Republicis estimated at approximately 40% of the landsurface, compared to only 12% in the 1980’s andapproximately 4% in Haiti. 248, 249 The reversal fromdeforestation to reforestation occurred as a resultof a large-scale program of reforestation andthe promotion of alternative sources of energy,specifically LPG and electricity.Recent surveys show that the forest cover continuesto increase in the whole country, but that theincrease is slower in the border zone than in the restof the country. 250 This positive trend has been moreapparent in recent years, as the population living inthe border zone has started using resources moreconsciously, and the state is enforcing its directivesmore vigorously than it used to do. 251Generally, the sentiment among authorities andcommunity members alike throughout the borderzone is that the establishment of Dominican (andnow Haitian) reforestation brigades has had a verypositive effect in ameliorating the negative trendof deforestation. Brigades are generally composedby eight to ten members from the local community,with every member working in the brigadeearning approximately 300-350 pesos a day(USD 8). Every brigade is headed by a chief (capataz),who in a vast majority of cases is a woman.Box 1 gives more details of the composition anduse of reforestation brigades in the border zone.There are several reasons for this success. Partly,it is because the creation of the brigades havecreated a source of income to the membersof the brigades, as well as related livelihoods,including plant nurseries and fruit production. Alsothe work of the brigades has ripple effects in thecommunities where they operate, in respect toawareness building, and increased consciousnessof issues among the local population. 252 Someof the members of the reforestation brigadespreviously were engaged in producing charcoal,providing good examples of alternative and moresustainable livelihood options to this detrimentalpractice. Some members of reforestation brigadesalso noted that they try to sensitize their communitiesto the risk of forest fires inherent in the use offire as a clearance technique.The challenge, however, is to retain these positiveeffects in the long run and how to use the availableresources better. Issues to address include ensuringthe long term survival rates of trees; preventing thefelling of recently planted trees; and discouragingpeople in these communities from returning tocharcoal production in the event that financingfor the reforestation efforts is phased out.As noted by Mr. Cornelio Acosta Monegro,Frontera Verde Executive Director, the survival rateof recently planted trees vary between differentBox 1: Reforestation brigades in the border zoneAt the time of writing, there are 62 reforestation brigades in the border zone (46 in the Dominican Republic and16 in Haiti). In the Massacre watershed, there are currently five Dominican brigades and nine Haitian brigades.In Pedernales, there are three Dominican brigades and three on the Haitian side, although all of them mostly arecomposed of Haitians working on both sides of the border, due to the lack of Dominican population in this area.Additionally there are 12 active Dominican brigades in the Elias Piña province, four in the Independencia province,nine in Restauracion and one in Monte Cristi.The bi-national reforestation brigades are also the main tool for executing the MPP project. The selection methodologyof members working in the brigade is not set: in the case of the Haitian brigades of Capotille, the choice was madeby the CASEC (the mayor) and the project technician. In others, members have been chosen after communityconsultations, but modalities are not clear. The various brigades are, however, always to be led by a woman (capataz).At the time of writing people selected to serve in the brigades have to be able to provide 1.25 “kawo” of land to theproject for reforestation activities. This requirement is, however, problematic, as it excludes many households fromthis cash-for-work scheme, many of which are in the greatest need of intervention, and who are the most likely toengage in charcoal production for income generation.68 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

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

plantations that the habitat will not sustain. Thepromotion of native species in nurseries couldalso be encouraged: currently, only a few nativehigh value timber species are being planted byreforestation brigades (e.g. mahogany, cedar).This would bring positive results not only in terms ofconservation but also of survival rates of plantedspecies.Members of reforestation brigades expressed onnumerous occasion their desire to plant more fruittrees as well as to establish more nurseries in orderto provide additional “green job” opportunities.There is clear statistical evidence of forest recoveryin the Dominican Republic as a result of energypolicy, governance and reforestation investments.The early evidence from the Frontera Verde projectis that the reforestation investments are working inthe border zone as well. The establishment and useof reforestation brigades also is a positive exampleof bi-national cooperation on an issue of mutualconcern. The current MPP project, has for examplebrought together both local community membersand officials, as well as ministries of environment,with the aim of jointly working to improve thesituation in the border zone.Dominican and Haitian reforestation brigades have done a great deal to reverse the negative trend ofdeforestation in the areas they have targeted. At the same time the brigades offer alternative livelihoods tothe people in the communities in which they are active.© UNEP70 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

6 Freshwater resourcesand flooding6.1 IntroductionThe border zone is moderately well endowed withwater resources. The important permanent rivers(from north to south) include the Massacre, theArtibonite and the Perdenales. In addition thereare multiple rivers and streams that are transientand effectively dry in the dry season (known asarroyos in Spanish). Finally there is Lac Azuei, knownas the Etang Saumâtre in Haiti, which forms theHaiti-Dominican Republic border in the Cul-de-Sac Valley. Lac Azuei is brackish, so although it isan important water feature it is not a fresh waterresource. Despite the amount of available waterresources, shortages can still be severe in particularregions throughout the year and broad scale watershortages are experienced right through the dryseason.Change in the availability of fresh water is alreadya major concern for farmers and communitiesin the central parts on both sides of the borderzone. 253 Water levels have decreased here mainlydue to changes in precipitation and in runoff rates,erosion, as well as sedimentation of canals, whichhave in turn changed the physical characteristicsof the rivers. 254There are two types of transboundary rivers andriver sections in the Haiti-Dominican Republicborder zone:• Riverine borders – where the border is the riveritself, or runs close and parallel to the rivers,as true for the Massacre River, parts of theArtibonite River network, and the PedernalesRiver. In these instances, the ownership andwater allocation rights remain unclear betweenthe two countries.• Border crossing rivers – where one nation isupstream and the other downstream.This distinction is important, both in terms of keyissues and potential solutions. Responsibility forcatchments with riverine borders is shared andsometime blurred. In contrast, the allocation ofresponsibility for border crossing rivers is clear:responsibility and ownership changes at theborder.6.2 Key issuesTransboundary water resources are a subject ofhigh interest in both countries. There are severalserious issues but only limited tensions. In generalmost issues are of mutual interest to be addressedand the potential for cooperation is clear. The mostdifficult issues are linked to floods and borders thatcross rivers, where actions or lack thereof in onecountry directly impacts the other.The four most important issues noted in theassessment were:• Transboundary river flooding.• Water scarcity, access and pollution.• Lake Azuei and Lake Enriquillo flooding.• Transboundary dams and water extraction.6.3 Transboundary floodingThe phenomenon of flash flooding in Hispaniola iswell understood. High rainfall events in the upperparts of degraded catchments result in very rapidrises in river levels. The flood peaks which can lastfrom hours to a few days at most, breach riverbanks and impact settlements in and adjacentto the flood plains. This is a nationwide problem inHaiti and a problem in some specific areas in theDominican Republic.A rarer problem is that of floods caused by hurricanesand tropical storms. In these cases, veryheavy and widespread rainfall – over a period ofhours or even days – simply overwhelms the entirecatchment and widespread flooding occurs allalong the floodplain, with water levels taking upto days to fully recede.Transboundary flooding is a very localized subsetof the larger problem of flooding in Hispaniola. Inselect cases, rainfall in one country causes floodsand damage in the other.The importance of this transboundary issue iscatchment specific. It is not, for example a majorissue for the Massacre watershed, but is an importantissue for the Artibonite watershed, the areasaround the lakes and the Pedernales watershed.However the impact of “normal” heavy rainfall inthe Dominican Republic upon Haiti is mitigatedby remaining forest cover and the Peligre Dam.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone71

Satellite image 6. Just before reaching Lake Enriquillo, the Soliette/Arroyo Blanco river has created afloodfan, threatening the Dominican town of Jimani. In 2004, a flashflood in the river first destroyed theHaitian town of Fonds Verrettes, before crossing the border and flooding the Dominican town of Jimani,leaving death and destruction in its wake.IH a i t iD o m i n i c a nR e p u b l icF l o o d e d a r e aF l o o d e da r e aJ i m a n iÜMeters0 380 760 1140 1520 19002 0 1 0Source: GoogleEarthUNEP - 201372 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Signs of the destruction wrought by the flashflood of 2004 can still be seen along the riverbed of the Soliette/Arroyo Blanco River where it passes the Haitian town of Fonds Verrettes.© UNEPThe issue is most critical however for the Soliette/Arroyo Blanco and Pedernales Rivers, draining intoLake Enriquillo and the Caribbean Sea respectively.Both of these rivers have very heavily degraded,steep catchments in the Haitian southeastmountains – a region prone to heavy rainfall dueto prevailing winds bringing moisture laden airfrom the Caribbean Sea. Both rivers also haveDominican towns located next to the riverbeds, onalluvial fans at the base of the catchments: Jimanifor Soliette/Arroyo Blanco and Pedernales for thePedernales River (with Anse-à-Pitres on the Haitianside). Both sites have experienced damagingfloods in the past.The forecast for these three towns is very negative:major flooding can be expected to continue forthe foreseeable future, even if there is investment inmitigation. The technical rationale for this forecastis that both of the potentially viable flood riskreduction measures (reforestation/soil conservationand micro-dams) will not fully work in these specificcases, and the flood control dams of the size thatwould be needed to make a difference are simplynot economically viable.First, reforestation and upper catchment soilconservation investments may help cap but willnot reduce the current flood risk levels. At best, theywill retain the remaining soil and flood risk levelswill not increase. This is because it is soil, not trees,which retain the bulk of the rainfall and encourageinfiltration in high rainfall events. Trees simplyprotect the soil from rain damage. However for theSoliette/Arroyo Blanco and Pedernales watersheds,much of the soil is already lost and transported assediments by the rivers either to Lake Azuei, to LakeEnriquillo, or to the Caribbean Sea.Second, micro-dams in the upper catchments, ifvery widespread and well built, will mitigate generalflash flooding, but will not mitigate hurricane ormajor storm related flooding risks. Micro-dams aresmall semi-permeable dams built across tributariesin the upper part of catchments. Generally theyare either dry or have a low flow leaking throughthe wall via drainpipes. In the event of short-termheavy rainfall, they do rapidly fill up and retainwater for some time, thereby extending thedrainage time and reducing the flood peak. As aresult micro-dams can reduce the flash floodingrisk – for some rainfall events. However hurricanesand major storms tend to bring heavy rain forextended periods and this both overwhelms themicro dam storage capacities and damages thestructures through very heavy and fast flows.Finally, localized flood channel containmentmeasures (gabionage and channel excavation)will work only in part. These types of very localHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone73

interventions if well designed do work for all but thelargest events but do require regular maintenanceand rebuilding/excavating after each flood.In the above cases, the recommended flood riskmitigation strategy is a balanced combinationof investments in mitigation, retreat, which wouldmean the abandonment of the most vulnerableareas, and the reconstruction of infrastructure awayfrom the flood risk.6.4 Water scarcity, accessand pollutionWater scarcity refers to an absence of sufficientamounts of water in the environment, while wateraccess refers to the availability of suitable waterfor the use of the population. It is, in other words,possible to have abundant water in the environmentbut insufficient access, particularly in respectto clean drinking water.Case study 5. Water insecurity in two Haitian watershedsHousehold surveys in the Massacre watershed in the north and the Pedernales watershed in the south of the borderzone give a good indication of the situation in respect to water shortage. About four in ten people in both watershedshave suffered from a lack of water availability for either drinking or bathing/cooking over the past 12 months. However,while this level is consistent across the Massacre sub-watersheds, there is dramatic divergence within Pedernales.In the Pedernales watershed, the mountainous areas are significantly more exposed to water insecurity, with 75 percent of the respondents answering that they have had insufficient water availability, than the two other eco-zones,where only 20-30% of households reported suffering from water shortages.As can be seen in Figure 6, the lack of water directly corresponds to the dry season, from December to April. Peopleinterviewed in the Pedernales watershed are significantly more likely to report insufficient water access from January toMarch than in Massacre, suggesting a stronger impact from the climate variability and the dry season in the Southeast.Figure 6. Seasonality of water insecurityMonths with insufficient wateracross watershedsTotal (n=98)Massacre(n=70)Pedernales(n=28)54%33%24%Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov DecThe number and variety of sources of drinking water also diverges across the watersheds on the Haitian side of theborder. The prevalence and accessibility of public taps or tube wells in most Massacre communities might explain thehigher proportion of respondents drinking ground water in the Northeast. When tap stands are not available or toofar away from households, families obtain their water from rivers, even though they generally understand the higherrisk of contamination.In contrast, the proximity and apparent higher quality of the surface water in the Southeast leads to higher surface waterconsumption in the Pedernales watershed. The technical director of the MPP in Pedernales noted that the source ofthe river is in the Dominican Republic, where deforestation is limited, and perhaps that is why the quality of water wassignificantly better than in the Northeast. Bottled water does not appear to be a viable alternative in either watershed.74 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Refuse from landfills and untreated domestic waste, pollute the Massacre River, from which it was safe todrink as recently as the 1970s. A key problem is people’s attitudes toward waste handling on both sidesof the border, which highlights the need to raise people’s awareness about the issue. 260© UNEPWater scarcity is a major issue in the centraland driest areas of the border zone, includingthe plateau centrale in Haiti and the Elias PiñaProvince in the Dominican Republic. Elias Piña is,for example, experiencing decreased rainfall andriver water shortages, which is a contributing factorto landowners selling their land and moving tothe cities. 255, 256 Without detailed analysis it is notpossible to pinpoint and weigh the various causesof the shortages, but both hydrology and localperceptions indicate that one of the main causesfor such shortages are related to land degradationresulting in increased run-off rates and reducedwater retention. This in turn results in rivers dryingout quicker in general and completely in the dryseason. Another reason seems to be changingrainfall patterns, as discussed in chapter 2.Case study 5, highlights the levels of water insecurityin two regions on the Haitian side of the border.Water pollution is another widespread andtransboundary problem. It is essentially endemicto both countries due to inadequate wastemanagement, sanitation and wastewater treatment.There is no long-term comprehensive dataon the quality of the rivers in the border area,but there is abundant anecdotal evidence ofpollution. 257, 258 Rivers are used on both sides of theborder as solid waste disposal sites, as laundries,bathrooms and latrines. All permanently flowingrivers observed by the assessment team had highlevels of visible pollution (garbage, foul water) intheir downstream parts, and are obvious sourcesof bacterial contamination. The border zone doesnot at present host large-scale manufacturing; soindustrial wastewater pollution is not yet an issue.A specific source of pollution is the bi-nationalmarkets, which are poorly organized and havelow standards of sanitation. They produce highvolumes of garbage which trickles down into, aswell as is disposed of in the water streams. 259The largest practical impact of water pollutionin the border zone is on health: bacteriallyHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone75

contaminated rivers are disease vectors, whichis an issue of serious concern now that cholera iswidespread in the region.The governance problem presented by pollutionin the rivers of the border area rivers is unique inthat is necessarily the shared responsibility of thetwo countries, neither of which has the motivationor means to clean up the rivers on their own.Therefore, the issue is an opportunity for cooperation,albeit a difficult one.Reduction of water pollution in the Massacre,Artibonite and Pedernales rivers in Haiti wouldrequire major improvements in governance onboth sides and widespread and major investmentsin solid waste management, sanitation andwastewater treatment. Given the current economicconstraints, this is considered unlikely to occur inthe short to medium term at least – so the currentpollution status of the transboundary rivers is alsounlikely to change.On the Dominican side, the General Directorateof Border Development has developed proposalsand is trying to mobilize funding for municipalsewage treatment for the effluents from Dajabonthat are currently draining into the Massacre River.This is a very positive step, but represents only asmall fraction of the required investments.6.5 Lake Azuei and Lake EnriquillofloodingLake Azuei and Lake Enriquillo are both terminallakes: they are located in the same tectonicdepression and have little or no exit drainage.Water escapes the lakes mainly through evaporation;some also escapes from Lake Azuei viagroundwater flows to the east (towards LakeEnriquillo). As a result both lakes are saline, ascontinued evaporation increases the concentrationof salts and there is no flushing drainage. LakeAzuei used to be an exclusively Haitian water body.Investments that have been made in the last five years to provide Haiti with modern custom and immigrationfacilities along the main road connecting the two countries are now inoperative and partially submerged as aresult of the rising water levels in Lake Azuei.© UNEP76 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

The main road connecting Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo has been raised several times where it followsthe shores of Lake Azuei, but that solution can only be seen as temporary as the lake’s water levels continueto rise.© UNEPDuring a slow but sustained flooding process thelake has expanded into the Dominican territoryand is now several kilometers into the DominicanRepublic, making delineation of the border difficultbecause it is understood in some places as thelake shore, which is clearly a moving geographicalfeature.Since 2004, both lakes have visibly risen abovehistorical levels. Level changes in Lac Azuei havenot been accurately tracked but are reported unofficiallyto be in the order of 1m per year at peakperiods (please refer to map 8 for the changedshoreline of lake Azuei). This has caused a numberof problems. The main southern transboundaryroute between Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingoruns along the south side of Lac Azuei and is alsothe main transport link for goods being tradedand transported between the two countries. Since2008, the route has been gradually submergedon both the Haitian and Dominican Republicsides. The road has been raised by earthworksseveral times and is still cut frequently, and manywarehouses and some houses in the area havebeen submerged. Agricultural land has beenflooded on both sides of the border, with thegreatest losses being Haitian land at the westend of the lake. Multimillion investments that havebeen made in the past five years to provide Haitiwith modern custom and immigration facilities arealso now inoperative and partially submerged.The cause of this rise has not been technicallyassessed. Nonetheless it is possible to makean interim professional judgment, based uponhydrological principles and anecdotal evidencegathered on site reconnaissance visits.Interpretation of the potential causesof the Lac Azuei floodingStudies conducted after the 2010 earthquakeshow that there has been no change in the earth’sHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone77

crust substantial enough to be the main causeof the lake level rise. Although it is true that thenumber and intensity of the flow of the springssurrounding Lake Azuei increased immediatelyafter the earthquake, these changes would havebeen due to temporary alterations in the watertable rather than to a permanent shift in thetectonic situation itself. There is also no recentchange in the groundwater exit flow status, as therehave not been any recent major drainage works.Instead the rise is probably due to increased riverwater, groundwater and sediment flows into thelakes with no corresponding change in exit flows/evaporation. In summary, increased inputs butstatic outputs result in rising water levels.There are at least four potential causes for theinterpreted increased input flows:• Permanent increases in river water andgroundwater run-off percentages – The majorityof serious deforestation and soil erosion in themountainous catchments surrounding the lakeshas occurred since the 1970s. Deforested anderoded catchments retain much less waterthan healthy catchments. As a result, the waterthat falls as rains flows more quickly to thecatchment end points – the lakes, rather thanrecalculating in the mountains via evaporationfrom soils after rainfall and evapo-transpiration(tree respiration).• Short term increases in rainfall – 2004, 2005 and2008 all saw major hurricane and tropical stormstrikes on Haiti. The 2008 storms in particularstruck the Southern Peninsula and causedheavy flooding in southern Haiti. It is possibleIt is clear from this picture of the mountains above Lakes Azuei and Enriquillo that farmers have beenworking these steep hillsides without any form of erosion control and as a consequence the land is severelydegraded.© UNEP78 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

that the rise in lake levels is in response to recentand temporary increases in rainfall.• Medium to long term changes in rainfall patterns– A second rainfall theory under review byscientists studying Lac Enriquillo is that regionalclimate change is driving a long term increasein rainfall or change in rainfall patterns in thisspecific region of the island. 261• Historical sediment inflows from land degradation– A large scale influx of sediment over thelast decades may have reduced the volumeof the reservoir and so increased the lake waterlevels.Based on the above interpretation, both countrieshave a major problem with Lac Azuei. At the veryleast, this issue warrants technical monitoring andfurther analysis to inform an appropriate response,including engineering solutions to reduce inflowand eventual drainage. A precautionary approachwould also assume that lake levels will continueto rise.Joca Dam as one of the projects in which thesefunds can be used. 264 Potential other dams onthe Dominican side include: Recodo Dam, MonteGrande Dam, El Tamarindo Dam, and Río SanateDam. 265 Other potential dams are the Don MiguelDam, Arroyo Capotillo Dam, Jobo Viajaca Dam,and Laguna Saladillo Dam. 266There are only a few water extraction points onthe transboundary rivers. On the Massacre River,for example, the Dominicans have four waterextraction locations, while the Haitians have none.The Haitians use some water upstream, but noirrigation schemes exist on the Haitian side. 267There is no bi-national mechanism in place thatwould deal with issues related to water sharing andfuture dam construction. Given the extremely highdependence of Haiti on the Artibonite River, this isa potentially a serious issue.6.6 Transboundary dams and waterextractionAt present the issues of transboundary dams arelimited to the Artibonite catchment in Haiti.The Peligre Dam in the Artibonite catchmentprovides domestic water and irrigation to over 3.5million people, 30-50% of Haiti’s current electricalcapacity (installed capacity of 47 Megawatts),and is the only large dam in Haiti. Downstream, theArtibonite valley is the country’s main productioncentre for rice and staples, with more than 34,500ha of irrigated land. Over the last few decades avery large volume of silt has been deposited in thePeligre Reservoir. That sedimentation is due to landdegradation in the upper catchment. The waterstorage capacity has as a result decreased by53% between 1972 and 2010 and its capacity toproduce energy has also been reduced. 262Discussions are ongoing about building a damon the Rio Joca, one of the main tributaries of theArtibonite River. Dominican authorities see it aspart of an integrated vision for the developmentof the border region. 263 Law No. 128-01, whichauthorizes the issuance of up to USD 500 million ingovernment bonds, mentions the building of theHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone79

7 Coastal and marineresources7.1 IntroductionDominicans and Haitians living in the coastal areasare interdependent: Haitians buy fishing gearand fuel oil for their boats from the DominicanRepublic and also sell a part of their catch acrossthe border 268 . Haitians and Dominican also bothinfringe on a daily basis on respective territorialwaters. Haitians generally fish close inshore, whilstDominicans fish both inshore and further offshore.With 1,700 km of sea coast and 22,000 ha of inlandwaters, fishing is an important activity for manyhouseholds in Haiti, with 50,000 people workingeither full time or part time within this sector. 269The sector is not, however, well developed andconfronts major constraints such as low qualityequipments, lack of the infrastructure needed forprocessing, conservation and commercialization,as well as insufficient credit sources. 270Artisanal fishing is a sector that largely has beenan underestimated source of livelihood in thesouth-east department of Haiti. Close to 3,300families are involved in this activity, and artisanalfishing provide a direct livelihood to 20,000 persons,with an additional 10,000 involved indirectly in thissector. 271 From an economic standpoint, artisanalfishing creates an annual turnover of more than200 million gourdes (approximately EUR 5 million). 272The fishing sector in the Dominican Republic iscomprised of approximately 8,400 fishermen, and3,300 boats, of which 98% are artisanal. Annualproduction amounts to 11,000 tonnes, putting pressureon the marine and coastal fishing resourcesof the Dominican Republic. This yearly productionis not sufficient to fulfill national demand, requiringthe import of approximately 34,000 tonnes ofseafood every year. 273 As fishing makes a minimalcontribution to GDP (0.5%), fisheries receive littleinstitutional and economic support. 2747.2 Key issuesCoastal and marine resources are issues of serioustransboundary concern, creating clashes andtensions between communities on both sides ofthe border, as well as between Haitian fishermenand Dominican authorities. At the same time it isa key opportunity for co-operation, as describedby the example of the cooperation between thefishermen associations in Pedernales (DominicanRepublic) and Anse-à-Pitre (Haiti), in case study 6.The five main issues that were identified are:• Illegal transboundary fishing and overfishing.• Mangrove cutting for wood and creation ofsalt pans.• Marine protected areas & biodiversity.• Transboundary trade in marine species.• Contamination of estuaries, coastal lagoons,and the sea.7.3 Illegal transboundary fishingand overfishingThe main source of marine territorial tensionsbetween the two countries identified in boththe north and the south were Haitian fishermencrossing illegally into fishing areas belonging to theDominican Republic, and Dominican fishermenentering Haitian waters in better boats with whichthey can fish further offshore than their Haitiancounterparts, creating tensions and frustrationsamong fishermen on both sides of the border.Haitian fishermen are frustrated about not beingable to address the problem of Dominican fishermencoming in on Haitian waters and fishing withbetter equipment. While Dominican fishermen inPedernales (in the south), and government officialsin Montecristi (in the north) on the other handraised the common problem of Haitian fishermenconducting illegal fishing that depletes the fishstocks, and catching protected species (includingturtles) on the Dominican side of the border. 275The northern coastal border area also suffers fromproblems in relation to unclear delimitations of themaritime border between the two countries. Theborder of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is notclearly defined so it is not obvious at what pointa boat has crossed the border. The delimitationof territorial seas is much clearer in the south andboth sides know when they are fishing outside theirterritorial waters.Overfishing practices on both sides of the borderwere also observed among Haitian fishermen in80 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

oth the north and the south coasts of the borderzone. The fish stock is reportedly decreasing insize and volume. Haitian fishermen are takingsmaller and smaller fish by reducing the meshsize of their nets. When engaging in such harmfulpractices on the Dominican side of the border,this is a particular concern among Dominicanfishermen, creating tensions between Haitianfishermen and Dominican authorities. 276 All thefishermen interviewed by the assessment team onboth the Haitian and Dominican side of the bordermentioned a decrease in the number of fish, andmost fishermen interviewed in the border regionhave also noticed that the size of fish has reduced.UNEP work in this field has consistently noted lowcatches and a predominance of juvenile fishnetted by Haitian shoreline and inshore fishermen.Such practices, when used over time, lead to thedestruction of breeding stock and overfishing ofthe existing marine resources.The fish catches are considerably better in the southwhere some fishermen reported that they couldearn a living just from fishing, while in the north theyhad to engage in additional livelihood practicesas well – mainly farming, charcoal making, smalltrade or salt production. One reason why the fishstocks are more plentiful in the south may be thefact that the Jaragua national park exists closeto the Dominican side of the border, providing aprotected area for fish stocks to rejuvenate.There is no government surveillance or enforcementwith respect to coastal and marine resourcemanagement in Haitian territorial waters, whichmeans fishermen from both countries operatefreely on the Haitian side of the border.Dominican fishermen generally cross the Haitianmarine border to fish pelagic (deep water) speciesthat are under exploited in Haiti. These includeFishermen have reduced the mesh size of their nets and overfished in general, all of which has resulted insmaller and smaller catches.© UNEPHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone81

tuna, sea bream, yellowtail, hake, marlin, andswordfish. This includes the placement of semipermanentDCPs (Dispositif de Consentration dePoissons – a type of off-shore fishing structure) inHaitian waters for their own use. 277The many Haitians, who cross the border to fish, runthe risk of being caught by the Dominican coastguard or police. If they are caught, especially ifconducting illegal activities, such as fine nettingor catching protected species, their fish and insome cases their equipment, are confiscated, orthey are imprisoned for days.7.4 Mangrove cuttingand salt productionMangroves are important nurseries for fish andmarine life that protect the coastline from erosionand trap sediment. They are relatively abundanton the north coast of Hispaniola, including in theborder area. There are very few mangroves alongthe southern coast of the border zone, but thereare large numbers further west on the Dominicanside of the Pedernales watershed between thecity of Pedernales and Cabo Rojo.The already degraded mangroves of the borderarea are under further threat from people fellingthem for fuel and clearing to make way for saltproduction. Those threats are serious in Haiti 278but less so in the Dominican Republic, wherethe majority of the damage is historical and theauthorities are actively protecting the remainingmangrove stands.In Haiti, the main threat to the mangrove iscutting for use as fuel wood. There are evensemi-commercial fuel wood operations that supplybakeries and laundries in Cap Haïtien. Althoughboth mangrove cutters and fishermen live in thesame communities, fishermen do not generallyparticipate in the cutting of mangroves – they saythat they know that it is detrimental to their fishinglivelihood.Artisanal salt production takes place on the Haitianside of the border area. Only limited quantities ofSalt is being produced on an industrial scale in areas once occupied by mangroves. Here large salt flats canbe seen close to the city of Montecristi on the Dominican side of the border.© UNEP82 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Satellite image 7. Mangroves are known to protect the coastline from erosion and to provide importantnurseries for fish and marine life, but they are still under threat not only from people felling them for firewood,but also from artisans looking to clear them to make way for salt production facilities, as can be seen here,close to the Haitian town of Jacquesil.IH a i t iD o m i n i c a nR e p u b l icS a l t - p a nMang ro veS a l t p a nÜJ a c q u e s i lS a l t - p a nMeters0 140 280 420 560 7002 0 1 0Source: GoogleEarthUNEP - 2013Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone83

Mangroves are being cut to be sold as firewood in Haitian cities© UNEPrelatively poor quality salt are produced due tothe basic technology used. Some villages such asJackzyl and Caracol received some support to digsalt lagoons from a WFP project, but communitiesmentioned that additional support would still beneeded to improve production. Further supportto boost Haitian salt production is, however, notrecommended by this study, due to the very detrimentaleffects it has on the mangrove cover andfish stocks. In addition artisanal salt production willnot produce salt that can compete in the marketplace with the quality and amounts harvested inindustrial salt production.In the Dominican Republic, approximately half ofthe mangroves that originally grew in the borderarea have long since been removed and thespace they once occupied is now taken up bysalt production fields, some of which still operateon an industrial scale.One protected area in the Dominican Republic –the Wildlife Sanctuary Laguna Saladilla – preservesimportant mangrove and wildlife habitats, and themangroves close to Montecristi attract incomefrom tourism. The productivity of this ecosystemis crucial for fishing livelihoods on both sides ofthe border. The main remaining threat to themangroves in this area is illegal mangrove cuttingby Haitian day visitors and immigrants.7.5 Marine protected areasand biodiversityAt present only the Dominican Republic has marineprotected areas, including national parks in boththe northern and southern border regions. Earlydiscussions are ongoing to develop a very largeHaitian marine protected area centered aroundthe Bay of Caracol.In the north, the marine resources on theDominican side are protected in part by MontecristiNational Park, which includes both landand marine areas. A key part of this park is thecomplex of seven islands (Siete Hermanos), which84 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

is important for biodiversity conservation in theCaribbean and part of the Atlantic as they hostlarge scale breeding grounds for marine birds(mainly gannets and boobies from the Sulidaefamily). The protection of the surrounding marineareas, however, seems to be effective only duringthe six month bird breeding season during whichthe Dominican Republic National Park authoritiesactively patrol the islands.The border zone’s marine and coastal biodiversitycan be found in four main ecosystems: 1) theinsular shelf, where there are a great variety ofendemic species of corals and marine grasslands,and where the species that hold significanteconomic interest for fisheries are concentrated.2) Mangroves and coastal lagoons, which areconsidered to be among the most importantecosystem groups for the reproduction of speciesof economic interest. 3) Beaches, which areimportant not only for tourism but also becausespecies – such as turtles and marine birds – nestthere. Some of the beach zones in the northernpart of the border area include islets that are ofcritical regional importance for bird reproduction.4) Rocky coastal cliffs, which are also veryimportant for bird reproduction.7.6 Transboundary trade in marinespeciesA fisherman in the Haitian border city of Anseà-Pitreshowing his catch. Fishermen reap thebenefits of having a marine protected area close byon the Dominican side of the border that acts as abreeding ground.In the south, the Dominican Jaragua Land andMarine National Park, is situated close to the border.Anecdotal evidence from fishermen on bothsides of the border is that this protected area maybe having a major positive impact on fishing yields.Marine parks with no-take zones act as sanctuariesfor fish to breed and grow, guaranteeing a steadysupply of mature fish to regional fisheries.© UNEPTrade in marine species across the border isimportant and a clear opportunity for increasedcooperation in the border zone. Dominicanfishmongers are for example present in theHaitian market of Anse-à-Pitre, buying much ofthe large fish and high-value species (lobster,crab, lambis) to resell them on the Dominicanmarket. In October 2007, from 500 to 1000pounds of fish were exported from Anse-à-Pitredaily. Haitian fishermen buying ice and fuelin Pedernales also sell their products in theDominican Republic. Dominicans also cross theHaitian border to sell the fish they cannot sell inthe Dominican Republic because they are toosmall to be permitted to be sold in the DominicanRepublic. 279Formal transboundary cooperation on thistransboundary trade is relatively limited and this iscurrently causing problems. One particular issuenoted in both the north and south was the lackof formal/state sanctioned dispute mediationmechanisms.Against this generally negative background, thereare however, some cooperation exceptions andsuccess stories. The most significant of these is thetransboundary cooperation between Haitian andDominican fisheries associations on the southerncoast, as can be seen in case study 6.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone85

Case study 6. Cooperation between fishermen associationsOn the Haitian side, a capacity building project started in 2007 has supported the development of 40 fisheriesassociations in the South East Department, which collectively cover 90% of the fishing population 280 . The associationclosest to the border is APPA (Asosyasyon pechè pou pwoteksyon ak anviwonman Anse a Pit), based in Anse-à-Pitre.The association consists of 100 fishermen and owns five fishing boats, one trammel fishing net, as well as a generatorand batteries in order to fish at night. To be able to use this equipment and benefit from support and assistance incase of equipment damage or illness/death in the family, each member has to give 5% of the income coming fromtheir catch to the association.On the Dominican side of the border, in Pedernales, the fishermen association “Asociation Pescadores AgustinMunoz”, has existed for 12 years, and today has 100 members. This association today works in close cooperationwith its Haitian counterpart, and has formalized the cooperation between Haitian and Dominican fishermen to includetransfer of information and knowledge of fishing techniques.The cooperation between the fishermen associations have also resulted in the banning of the sale of the smallestsize fishes on the bi-national market, and on-going work on trying to increase the mesh size used in fishing nets. TheDominican association has, furthermore, worked as a contact and dispute resolution mechanism between Haitianfishermen and Dominican authorities, iffor example a Haitian fishing boat hasbeen seized by Dominican authorities.This formal agreement between thetwo associations is reported to haveimproved relations between Haitian andDominican fishermen considerably. 281Fishermen’s associations on both sidesof the border in the cities of Pedernalesand Anse-à-Pitre work together on issuesrelated to sharing of best practice andfishing techniques, dispute resolution andtrade.energy.© UNEP7.7 Contamination of estuaries,coastal lagoons, and the seaMost of the pollution in the border zone’s coastsand estuaries comes in the form of householdwaste from cities. Ouanaminthe, Dajabon, andMontecristi are the most significant in the northerncoastal zone; Pedernales and Anse-à-Pitre arethe most significant cities in the southern coastalzone. Similarly Lakes Azuei and Enriquillo are polluted– via the watersheds that drain into them – bythe inhabitants of cities and villages, and by thetraders and customers at the binational markets.The condition of the lakes is a lot worse than that ofthe rivers or the coast for the simple reason that thelakes do not drain, causing a sustained increasein contamination.Water pollution in the border zone is essentiallyorganic and is usually domestic or industrialsewage. However, the water ways also suffer asphosphorated detergents, fertilizers, pesticides,and herbicides drain into them from cleared andirrigated, agricultural land, as well as from runoffafter fires or tree felling.The mining developments that are anticipated inthe border zone could represent a chemical threat,particularly if the use of chemicals in extractionprocesses remains unregulated. Special attentionmust be given to the organometallic compoundsof mercury, which are used to mine gold, and arehighly toxic when swallowed or inhaled.Whatever the future holds for chemical pollutants,the contaminants that currently flow from theborder zone out into the ocean, are damagingthe reproductive capacity of crustaceans andfish and so reducing the supply of seafood on theisland.86 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

8 Environmental aspectsof trade, employmentand industry8.1 IntroductionTransboundary trade and labour migration arekey livelihoods for Haitians in the border area andare also important to the Dominican border community,partly because the Dominican agriculturalsector is now largely dependent upon cheapHaitian immigrant labour.Transboundary trade and labour migrationbetween the two countries is currently a relativelypeaceful and mutually beneficial process, butit also provokes discrimination, environmentaldegradation and significant tensions at both thelocal and the national level.There is currently very limited industry in the borderzone. This will change however if the recent progressin exploration for gold and silver leads to theopening of large mines in the region, and when thedevelopment of an Industrial Park in the Northeastdepartment of Haiti that was inaugurated inOctober 2012, continues. Such operations willprovide economic opportunities, while also havingenvironmental impacts to be managed in theareas where operations are taking place.When looking at employment opportunities in theborder area it is also worth remembering the jobsin reforestation and watershed management thathave been created under the auspices of thevarious bi-national initiatives that have alreadybeen mentioned (MPP project, the CaribbeanBiological Corridor, the Artibonite project, etc.).8.2 Key IssuesThe key trade, employment and industry issuesidentified in the border zone are:• Bi-national markets and their environmentalaspects.• Rural population increase and transboundarymigration.• Environmental aspects of mining and industrialdevelopment.8.3 Bi-national markets andtheir environmental aspectsA large number of self-employed Haitians as well asfamily enterprises trade actively on the Dominicanside of the border area on a day trading basis whilestill living in Haiti. A substantial portion of this tradetakes place in the 14 bi-national markets that havebeen established throughout the border zone. Thelargest of these markets is the bi-national market ofOuanaminthe-Dajabon, that is further describedin case study 7.Overall this trade is considered to be a very positiveactivity that should be further encouraged. Atthe same time, measures are also needed tocombat and discourage the trade in illegal anddamaging goods, such as charcoal, subsidizedfertilizer and banned chemicals, as well as thenegative environmental aspect of the markets.Involve the UNEP Green customs initiative to traincustoms and enforcement officers on the controlof trade in environmentally sensitive commodities.The current state and placement of the bi-nationalmarkets are a source of concern. They are currentlynot having the necessary infrastructure or organizedin a way that would provide the possibility ofcontrolling them, resulting in the markets beingsources of pollution to the local waterways andthe environment. Goods are, furthermore, oftenbeing sold in unhygienic conditions, increasingthe risk of disease.In relation to the trade of natural resources, the UNEPregional office of Latin America and the Caribbeanhas an on-going initiative called “Green CustomsInitiative” (GCI). The objectives of the initiativeare “to enhance the capacity of customs andother relevant enforcement personnel to monitorand facilitate the legal trade and to detect andprevent illegal trade in environmentally-sensitivecommodities”. 282The Dominican Republic already has a dedicatedGreen Customs Unit, but nevertheless the assessmentteam identified a need in both countriesto improve the ways in which they control thetrade in environmentally sensitive commodities.Both countries could enhance the training andequipment given to officials working at theborder and keep the traders and members of theHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone87

private sector better informed. Customs personnelworking in both Ouanaminthe (Haiti) and Dajabon(Dominican Republic) listed the following areasthat require tighter regulation: charcoal, chemicals(agropesticides, hazardous wastes), plastic andother solid waste.Another acute political problem to address involvesthe legal and policy vacuum regarding the status,obligations and rights of the Haitian traders operatingin Dominican territory and the inequity, abuseand corruption associated with their presence. Inshort, Haitian traders often are or feel mistreatedand exploited by Dominican authorities and byelements of the Dominican business community.During market days merchants and buyers fromboth countries are to be allowed to enter themarketplace on equal terms. 12 of the 14 marketsare, however, located on Dominican territory,creating some problems for Haitian merchants,who carry both money and merchandise. Thismakes them easy targets for thieves, and dishonestsoldiers and custom officials. Haitians have noright to complain, once they have crossed theborder, and no authorities to turn to for help, asno such authority exists on the Haitian side. 283 Themain complaints of the Haitian population, whenvisiting the bi-national markets on the Dominicanside include: 284• Arbitrary fees demanded by customs andmilitary officials.• High taxes demanded for places in the market,in the case of Belladère.• Confiscation and theft of Haitian merchandise.• Verbal and physical abuse, as well as unofficialcollection of taxes by soldiers and customsauthorities.• Un-paid debts by Dominicans who buy Haitianmerchandise on credit, and the inability ofHaitians to get Dominican authorities to acton their behalf.Bi-national markets provide an opportunity for small scale farmers to sell their produce to inhabitants onboth sides of the border. A major problem, however, exist in respect to the lack of rights of Haitian merchantsonce they have crossed the border into the Dominican Republic.© UNEP88 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Case study 7. Cross-border trade in the market of Ouanaminthe – DajabónIn parallel with the formal trade between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, informal transactions between the twocountries have become increasingly important in recent years and attract merchants of both nationalities to severalof the bi-national markets. Studies conducted in 2001 estimated the value of official agricultural trade between thetwo countries to USD 10 million per year and the informal agricultural trade to USD 40-60 million. 285Of the 14 bi-national markets along the border, the market of Dajabón – Ouanaminthe is the main place for informaltrade between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. 286 This particular market also represents 56% of the total value ofHaitian informal exports to the Dominican Republic. 287 Between 2004 and 2005 over USD 5 million worth of productspassed from Haiti to the Dominican Republic through this market. 288The market is located mainly on Dominican territory and operates twice a week. Each market day, Dominican borderofficials allow Haitian producers, sellers and consumers to cross the border without controlling their identification.Inside the market, a space is reserved for Haitian merchants, who pay a certain sum for each square meter they use. 289The goods exchanged there are mostly agricultural produce. Mainly bananas, eggs, onions, shallots and mirlitons aresold by Dominicans to Haitians. Haitians sell mostly rice, green beans and garlic, but also seasonal products such asavocado, grenadia and bitter orange, to the Dominican Republic.Despite being by far the largestmarket, Dajabón – Ouanaminthe isnot specialized in the trade of animals,except for poultry. More than 50% ofthe trade in livestock (such as goat, beefand pork) happens in Hato Viejo. 37%of it happens in Tilory, and 11% of it inCapotille. In 2001, exports of animalsrepresented 11% of the value of totalexports from Haiti to the DominicanRepublic. 290The bi-national market of Ouanaminthe-Dajabon is the largest of the14 bi-national markets.© UNEP8.4 Rural population increaseand transboundary migrationRural overcrowding, severe forms of environmentaldegradation, and lack of livelihood options on theHaitian side of the border are driving transboundarymigration towards the Dominican Republic. Themanagement and treatment of Haitian migrantsin the Dominican Republic is a high profiletransboundary issue. After the earthquake thenumber of Haitians living in the DominicanRepublic increased by 15%. Haitian migrantsnow represent approximately 10% of the entireDominican population. 291 The use of detrimentalpractices by the migrants, like those which havecaused much of the environmental degradationin Haiti, such as soil erosion and productivity losses,are now damaging areas on the Dominican sideof the border.At the same time, Haitian migrant labour stronglysupports the Dominican economy through low-costlabour, while it provides livelihoods for hundreds ofthousands of Haitians, which also is supportingthe Haitian economy through remittances. Thelargest single problem for Haitian migrant workersin the Dominican Republic is mistreatment andexploitation by their Dominican employers. This isparticularly acute for illegal migrants, who makeup the majority of working migrants since the postearthquake surge of 2010. Problems noted includea failure to pay salaries, poor work and livingconditions, forced expulsions, and intimidation.It is a particular problem in the border area. TheDominican side of the area has a high populationof Haitian agricultural laborers and the border poststhemselves are flashpoints for abuse and conflict.Haitians returning home after a period of illegalwork in the Dominican Republic are frequently bothHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone89

carrying money, and missing their documentation,which makes them highly vulnerable to theft andextortion.The combination of having no rights on theDominican side and, in the absence of effectivestate institutions, no recourse to justice on theHaitian side, migrant labourers are left with little orno opportunity for redress.On the Dominican side, there is a general viewthat many of the problems encountered, bothsocial and environmental, originate from theHaitian side of the border, nurturing mistrust towardsHaitians. Dominican complaints and fears aboutHaitians can be summarized in two categories:delinquency and intimidating behavior, and fearof economic and demographic “invasion”. 292Since the earthquake, there has been an influxof unemployed Haitians and a real, rather thanperceived, increase in the incidence of robberyand violent crimes committed by Haitians. 293Haitians are mainly employed to work in jobsthat Dominicans do not want to do themselves.Nevertheless, the most frequently articulatedDominican fear about the Haitians concerns the“takeover” of many economic niches, includingnot only rural agricultural field labour, but alsourban construction sites. 294 For the Dominicans livingin the border area, the Haitian presence withinvarious sectors is a valuable and valued source offield labourers who will work for lower wages thenDominicans. However, local and national mediaoften portray this labour force as an “invasion”(albeit sometimes “peaceful invasion”), 295 whichrisks increasing the tensions between Haitians andDominicans. Dominican authorities also complainabout the lack of Haitian authorities. Haitianswho have committed crimes in the DominicanMany Haitians – or people born in the Dominican Republic but of Haitian descent – live in rural parts of theDominican side of the border zone. Many of them are uneducated and live in poverty, such as this woman inthe Pedernales watershed, who has four children, none of whom attend a school.© UNEP90 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Evidence that Dominicans are leaving the border zone and moving to the cities can be seen in some areasin the border zone: like this vacant house in the small Dominican border town of Mencia in the PedernalesWatershed.© UNEPRepublic, they point out, can escape justice simplyby returning to Haiti.Since the outbreak of cholera in Haiti in 2010,the Dominican authorities have taken a morehostile approach towards Haitians in the border,and established more border controls. As aconsequence Haitians find it harder to cross theborder, even when they are looking to trade inthe bi-national markets or to access medicalcare.8.5 Environmental aspects of miningand industrial developmentDespite expert confirmation of the presenceof deposits of precious and base metals onHispaniola, mining has previously not been a keysource of income for either country. This is aboutto change because recently, the price of preciousmetals has increased and a large gold minehas opened in the Dominican Republic. Miningmay well present both countries not only withopportunities, but also with risks. There are, after all,many places around the world where mining hascaused environmental damage and social unrest.Indeed, political unrest led to the closure of Haiti’slast copper mine in the early 1970’s. 296, 297 Despitethese caveats, if economical, environmental andsocial concerns are handled correctly, mineralexploitation can bring much needed revenues tothe country, and create job opportunities for bothskilled and unskilled labour.Mining is an important potential issue for theborder area because the geology of interest runseast-west and the formations that contain goldand other minerals on the Dominican side, arealso present on the Haitian side. Mining companiesactive in the Dominican Republic, such as EurasianMinerals, claim that Haiti has mineral potentialsimilar to that of the Dominican Republic. 298Mining activities in the Dominican Republic havegreatly increased since 2010. The main mineralsconcerned are gold, copper (the exploration ofwhich is concentrated in the Eastern Cordillera andthe Central Cordillera) and nickel (mainly in the beltHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone91

etween these two cordilleras), but the island alsohas some bauxite deposits used for the productionof aluminium. 299At the time of writing, the export of minerals is moreimportant to the Dominican economy than that ofsugar, coffee, cacao or tobacco combined, andis second only in importance to goods from thefree trade zones. 300 Barrick Gold is in the processof opening the Pueblo Viejo gold mine. It willbe situated about 150 km from the border andwill afford access to an estimated 20.4 millionounces of gold, which has a current market valueof approximately USD 34 billion. 301 It is expected tobe the fourth largest gold mine in the world, withproduction estimated at approximately one millionounces of gold per year mined during the first fiveyears of production. In addition to gold, the provenand probable reserves at the site are estimatedat 117 million ounces of silver, and 157,881 tonsof copper, with current market values of USD 3.7billion and USD 1.2 billion respectively. The PuebloViejo mine is a good example of stakeholdercooperation – including the Dominican Federationof Municipalities, financing entities, NGO’s and thelocal communities, – working together to createworkable solutions to issues related to the newmine. 302There has already been some exploitation ofbauxite reserves in the Pedernales watershed closeto the border. These operations, which exploitedraw bauxite and exported it to North America forprocessing, closed down approximately four yearsago, but are expected to start up again in thenear future. 303Bauxite – the raw material for aluminum – was mined in the Dominican Republic, adjacent to the Sierra deBahoruco national park and close to the border with Haiti, until four years ago. With raw material prices onthe rise, operations are likely to resume in the near future.© UNEP92 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Rivière Libon!^Map 11. Mining exploration and exploitation licensees close to the border in the Dominican Republicand Haiti20°NCuba72°WA t l a n t i c O c e a nI71°W!^!P!^!^Cap-Haïtien !P[·Fort-!^! C ! C Liberté!^!P! C ! C ! C C!^!!Ponaives!PHaiti Dominican RepublicPort-au-Prince Santo Domingo!^!^!^!^Monte-CristiOuanamintheCapotilleRiv. MassacreDajabón!^Rio Yoque del NorteGuayubinMao!PPuerto PlSantiagoRivièr e Canot!^!^Rio Mao19°N !^Riv. ArtiboniteRiv. Guayamouc!PHincheRiv. Fer à ChevalRiv. Artibonite!BelladèreRio TocinoElías Piña!P!^Rio JocaRio YabonicoRIO MAC ASIA!^San Juan!P!^Rio San Juan!^PORT-AU-PRINCE!^[·Jimaní!PNeiba!PRio Yaq ue del SurAzua!PRiv. Blanche!^Jacmel!PLegendCPotential mining sites in Haitiwhere exploration is taking place!18°NMine exploration and exploitation inDominican RepublicMetal exploration (granted)Metal exploitation (granted)Non-metal exploitation (granted)Riv. PedernalesC a r i b b e a nS e aAnse-à-PitreLibenRobinson!PPedernales[·NizaltoDatum: WGS 84UTM Zone 18N[·Sources:MINUSTAHUN Cartographic SectionBarahona!PNon-metalic exploration (being processed)0 10 20Non-metalic exploitation (being processed)KmThe boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement by the United Nations. UNEP UNEP - 2012 2013.!^!^Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone!^93

Mineral exploration is starting in Haiti. 304 Severalexploration and development licenses havealready been signed, including:• the exploitation of silver-gold deposits in MorneGrand Bois and Morne Bossa.• the exploration and exploitation of a golddeposit in Failles.• the exploration and exploitation of copperdeposits in Douvray and Blondin.• the prospection for copper and gold in theregions of Mémé and Casséus.The first environmental provisions related tomining in Haiti were established in 1974, obligingthe beneficiary of a mining claim to protect theenvironment or face sanctions. These provisions arestill in force in the form of the “Code Minier” today.The potential issues linked to the start of large scalemining in the border zone include:2012, the government of Haiti, the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank, the U.S. State Department andthe Clinton Foundation inaugurated the CaracolIndustrial Park (CIP) – a modern manufacturingfacility of 246 ha in northern Haiti close to theborder with the Dominican Republic.The CIP is a USD 300 million project, designed topromote investment, to increase the availabilityof electricity, and to create jobs in the region. Aswith other large scale industrial developments,environmental and social impact assessmentsshould be taken into consideration, in order toavoid potential negative effects to the surroundingenvironment and livelihoods, as well as to ensurethe support of the local population.• Displacement of communities and associatedunrest.• An explosion of damaging and unregulatedartisanal mining.• Environmental damage as a result of harmfulprocesses or leakage of residues from themining process.• Uncontrolled local migration to mining sites,“boom towns” with associated social andenvironmental issues.• Land grabbing and property speculation.When new mining concessions are granted,several issues related to natural resources governanceshould be taken into consideration:• land tenure.• transparency and accountability.• public participation in the decision-makingprocess.• sharing of mining revenues.• the capacity of the relevant authorities to reviewthe environmental impact assessments of anyproposed investments.Industrial development is another issue thatprovides both an opportunity, as well as risks for theborder zone if not handled correctly. In October94 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Table 2. Key issues identified in the reportKey Issue Scale Evidence base Trend TrendPredictabilityShort termbinationalinstability riskAgricultureLand degradation Binational Strong Slow Negative High LowTransboundary agriculture Binational Strong Slow Negative Medium MediumLand tenure Haiti biased Strong Stable High HighForestry and protected area managementForest clearance and forest fires Binational Strong Slow Negative Medium MediumUncontrolled transboundary charcoaltradeDominicanlocal toDepartmentalStrong Slow Negative Medium HighCollection of Fuel wood Binational Strong Slow Negative Medium MediumProtected area managementand biodiversityBinational Strong Slow Negative Medium HighReforestation Binational Strong Positive Medium NoneWater resources and floodingTransboundary river floodingBinational local– 2 hotspotsStrong Stable High LowWater scarcity, access and pollution Binational local Moderate Slow Negative Medium LowLake Azuei and Lac Enriquillo flooding Binational local Weak Rapid Negative Low High (instability)Transboundary dams and waterextractionBinational Weak No Evidence No Evidence MediumCoastal and marine resourcesIllegal transboundary– and overfishing Binational Strong Stable High HighMangrove cutting for wood andcreation of salt pansMarine protected areasand biodiversityBinational localhotspotsDR localhotspotsStrong Slow Negative Low LowStrong No Evidence No Evidence MediumTrade in marine species Binational Strong Positive Low LowContamination Binational Weak No Evidence No Evidence LowEnvironmental aspects of trade, employment and industryBi-national markets and theirenvironmental aspectsRural population increase andtransboundary migrationEnvironmental aspects of miningand industrial developmentBinational Strong No Evidence No Evidence HighBinational Strong No Evidence No Evidence HighBinational Moderate No Evidence No Evidence Medium96 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

assessment team are all small scale, essentiallyclashes between individuals and smaller groups.On their own, they have a relatively low risk ofescalation at the local level. The main risk ofescalation comes from such cases inflamingexisting tensions at the national level, triggeringwider conflict perhaps driven by the media orescalated for political motives. This risk shouldnot be under-estimated, as perceived injusticesin individual cases can have powerful triggeringeffects where tensions are already high, even if thetwo situations are otherwise unrelated.The most serious economic risk is presented bythe flooding of Lake Azuei and Lake Enriquillo, asthis has in the past closed the border temporarilyand may do so again, with serious economicconsequences to Haiti and significant but lesserimpacts on the Dominican Republic. This is notan instability risk per se, on the contrary the crisiswould probably force co-operation between thetwo countries. Nonetheless an extended closureof the Malpas border would be very economicallydamaging for Haiti and this damage might in turntrigger instability.Positive developments: There are some clear positivetrends, including reforestation programmes,transboundary cooperation and increased binationaltrade in the border zone. The most positiveaspect of the Dominican-initiated reforestationactivities, including the Frontera Verde / MPPinitiative, is that it builds on a model of reforestationthat has been tested and proven to work over anumber of years in the Dominican Republic. Inaddition, many of the identified transboundarycooperation and trade initiatives are owned andled by local people, and are cost-effective and soit should be economically viable to support andimprove them without depending on aid.9.3 Identification of underlyingdriving forcesThe 20 identified key issues do not have 20 differentcauses. On the contrary, the many different issuesare considered to be linked to or manifestations ofonly four closely interlinked driving forces:1. Haitian poverty, food insecurity and underdevelopment.2. Environmental degradation, in particular on theHaitian side of the border.3. Weak governance.4. Haiti-Dominican Republic economic andresource inequalities.Table 3 summarizes how the identified key issuesare linked to the four identified underlying drivingforces.1) Haitian poverty, food insecurityand under-developmentThese are considered to be the core drivingforces for virtually all of the issues noted. Thedriving forces manifest themselves particularlywhen looking at the high dependence onsubsistence agriculture combined with highpopulation growth in the area and underdevelopmentin the energy sector.Maintaining an adequate and sustainablelivelihood from subsistence farming is a challengein all countries: in Haiti it is now close toimpossible. This is due to a combination of: a)very high rural population density (estimated atover 250/km 2 ) with a population that is growingmuch faster than the average of the country,resulting in very small land holdings; b) moderateto low quality soils, that have been furtherdegraded as a result of man-made activities;and c) insufficient agricultural investments andinputs. The net result is that rural families cannotgenerate an adequate livelihood or growsufficient food from their own landholdings.Without education and other employmentopportunities, artisanal farming families arecaught in a poverty and food insecuritytrap.This combination of land shortages, povertyand labor surplus generates a large andmobile rural labour force. The people in thatlabour force have negligible capital and arecontinually looking for livelihood opportunitiesaway from their own landholdings – both inHaiti and across the border. In the borderzone, the available jobs are all relativelyunskilled, low paid, highly insecure, and oftenenvironmentally destructive. The list of themincludes sharecropping, farm laboring, coastalfishing, fuel wood harvesting and charcoalproduction.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone97

Table 3 Summary of how key issues are linked to the identified underlying driving forcesUnderlying Driving ForcesCategory Issues HaitianEnvironmentalWeakHaiti-DRpoverty, foodDegradationGovernanceEconomicinsecurity, andandunderdevelopmentResourceInequalitiesAgricultureLand degradation X X XTransboundary agriculture X X X XLand tenure X X X XForestry and protected area managementForest clearance & forest fires X X X XUncontrolled transboundary charcoaltradeX X X XCollection of fuel wood X X XProtected areamanagement&biodiversityX X X XWater resources and floodingReforestation x xTransboundary river floodingXWater scarcity, access and pollution X X X XLake Azuei and Lake EnriquillofloodingXTransboundary dams and waterextractionxCoastal and marine resourcesIllegal transboundary– andoverfishingX X X XMangrove cutting for wood andcreation of salt pansXXMarine protected areas &biodiversityXXTrade in marine species x XContamination x xEnvironmental aspects of Trade, Employment and IndustryBi-national markets and theirenvironmental aspectsRural population increase andtransboundary migrationX X XX X X XEnvironmental aspects of mining &industrial developmentxx98 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Extreme poverty is a key driving force leading to unsustainable practices and further environmentaldegradation.© UNEPIt is important to note the scale of this mobilelabour force and the source region. Withunemployment in Haiti estimated to be inthe order of 41% or four million people, 305 thepotential mobile rural labour pool searchingfor alternatives is crudely estimated to be wellover one million.Finally, population growth needs to befactored into any proposed solution. The currentestimated growth rate of the populationof Haiti is 1.3% per annum, with a projectedgrowth of 25% over the next 20 years, reachinga population of 12.5 million by 2030. 306 Thegrowth rate in the border zone is much higherthan this, between 3-4 %, in most areas alongthe border zone. It is clear that the artisanalfarming population on the Haitian side of theborder zone has already surpassed sustainablenumbers, so all future growth adds to themobile labour pool.This large and growing mobile labour force hascritical implications for solution development.For example, targeted investment in livelihoodcreation in Haitian communities close to theborder will have only limited impact if the issuesnoted on both sides are driven by the mobilelabor pool drawn from all over rural Haiti.2) Haitian environmental degradationThe three most important forms of environmentaldegradation are: deforestation, soil erosionand marine environmental degradation.Environmental degradation on the Haitian sideof the border zone already has had three substantialmaterial impacts: a) it has dramaticallylowered the productivity of farming and forestryland; b) increased the severity of river floodpeaks; and c) has decreased the fish stocksin the coastal waters. Lowered productivityhas fed into the problems of artisanal farmersfurther exacerbating rural poverty and unskilledlabour mobility. The increased flooding hasalready impacted the towns of Fonds Verrettes,Jimani and Pedernales / Anse-à-Pitre.Deforestation and devegetation of slopingland is a primary cause of much of the problem.The deforestation process is not completeanywhere in the border zone, however it isHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone99

A charcoal kiln made from the last few pieces of wood to be found on a barren hillside in the central parts ofthe border zone is a sad example of extreme environmental degradation.© UNEPmuch further advanced in a much larger areaon the Haitian side of the border. Deforestationlinked to the illegal charcoal business is amajor issue for the Dominican Republic. Thedeforestation and devegetation, combinedwith soil tilling and overgrazing has resulted insoil erosion, which is the direct cause of thefarming productivity losses and increase inflood peaks. The irreversibility of soil erosion isa major factor for solution development – it isalready too late for much of the Haitian sideof the border zone and it is vital that the samedegree of loss is not extended further – oneither side of the border.The underdevelopment of the energy sectorin Haiti drives the charcoal business in bothHaiti and the Dominican Republic and all ofits consequences. Charcoal produced byartisanal means is highly inefficient, expensiveand environmentally destructive. The DominicanRepublic has successfully moved beyondartisanal charcoal for its domestic energymarket through a combination of governanceand provision of a better alternative in the formof LPG: this is yet to happen in Haiti.The critical point about charcoal in the borderzone is that it is a net exporter and localdemand is not significant. Essentially it is thecharcoal demand in Port-au-Prince that drivesthe entire charcoal economy. This has criticalimplications for solution development – theenergy demand issue cannot be solved inthe border zone. Suppressing the supply inthe ongoing presence of strong demand isnot considered a viable solution on its own.3) Weak governanceThis is a truly crosscutting issue, affecting allparts of economy and society. This is an issuefor both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, butmuch more acute for Haiti.On the Haitian side of the border, weak governanceis manifested as an effective absenceof the state, and financial destitution where100 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

it is present. The Haitian population simplycannot turn to the state for justice or adequateservices. As a result the population bothsuffers and is not adequately controlled oncommon interest issues such as environmentalprotection. In the border zone on the Haitianside there is effectively zero environmentalgovernance.On the Dominican side, the legislative frameworkand institutional capacity in the DominicanRepublic are overall more than adequateand the presence of the state is visiblethroughout the border zone. Parts of the borderzone are, however, impacted by governancelapses in the form of petty corruption. This notonly enables the illegal charcoal industry tothrive – despite its very clear illegality – butalso increases the risk and damages theDominican environment. A second issueis local under-resourcing of enforcement.The Dominican Government has allocatedinsufficient staff and funds, for example, toadequately address deforestation on privateland and in protected areas in the borderzone.4) Haiti-Dominican Republic economic andresource inequalitiesIt is the inequality of economic opportunitiesand of the remaining natural resources thatunderlies many of the more complex issuesnoted in the Haiti – Dominican Republic borderzone.The natural resources remaining in theDominican Republic side of the border zone(agricultural soils and forests) were originally thesame as that of Haiti, but are now generallyfar superior due to a complex mix of factors,including environmental degradation on theHaitian side and improved governance on theDominican side.The Dominican side also provides muchmore employment opportunities, as well asuncultivated land than the Haitian side ofthe border. Additionally, as the border zoneis not a high opportunity economic regionfor Dominican citizens, and developmentelsewhere in the Dominican Republic hasgenerated many non-farming business andemployment opportunities, there has beenEntering the Haitian border town of Belladère.© UNEPHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone101

a marked out-migration of the Dominicanpopulation from rural areas and a major reductionin artisanal farming of marginal land byDominican Republic citizens. This out-migrationhas opened up vacant agriculture land on theDominican Republic side of the border zonethat attracts in-migration of Haitian farmers.Multiple factors have combined to cause significantinfiltration/worker migration of Haitiancitizens into the Dominican Republic side ofthe border zone. These include a large andgrowing mobile Haitian unskilled labor force,relatively lax border controls, reduced anddamaged natural resources on the Haitianside, significant remaining natural resourceson the Dominican side, and out-migration ofDominican citizens from the Dominican sideof the border.9.4 ShocksNational or regional growth or decline is not alwaysa smooth process. It is also tightly linked to theresilience of the state, its population and relatedlivelihoods to be able to respond to vulnerabilities,such as absorb economic, social and politicaldisturbances, as well as anticipate and recoverfrom natural hazards, climate variability and environmentaldegradation. Decline in particular canbe abrupt, as it was in Haiti after the 2008 floods,the 2010 earthquake and during the choleraepidemic. Several of the border zone issues havethe potential to be affected negatively by suchshocks and acute stresses.Collectively incidents including both disasters, conflicts,epidemics and economic and social unrestare labeled shocks. Given that this assessment hasestablished that there is a large scale, slow declinein progress and the environment is and continuesto be degraded, then the potential for tippingpoints within that context needs to be established.Tipping points are incidents and events that resultin a material worsening of pre-existing problemsand trends, resulting passing critical thresholdsbeyond which the system is governed by newprocesses and structures. For example, a forest firein an already partly deforested mountainous areais a shock, and will result in a rapid drop in forestcover and extensive bare soil, resulting in turn in atipping point for accelerated and irreversible soilerosion in specific areas.Table 4 lists and describes the key identifiedpotential shocks, that may potentially affect theHaiti-Dominican Republic border zoneIn respect to the first incident listed in Table 4“Hurricane and river flooding”, climate change islikely to further worsen the situation in the long run.A model predicting the effect of anthropogenicwarming on the frequency of Atlantic hurricanesfound that the incidence of Category 4 and 5Table 4. Key potential shocks identifiedShock Likelihood – frequency Principal impacts ScaleHurricane and river flooding High – every 5 years or less Economic and environmentaldestructionEarthquake Low – every 50-200 years Economic destruction + broadimpactsDepartmental-binationalDepartmental-binationalCholera outbreakHigh – cholera is now endemicin Haiti.Social and economic & political inc.border closuresDepartmental-binationalHaiti internal political instability– riotsHigh – Annual frequency orhigher since 1990Social, economic & political inc.border closuresNationalViolent conflict between Haitianand Dominican Republic citizensHigh – small scale incidentsoccur annually at leastSocial with potential for politicalescalationBinational – localizedLarge scale forest fires Moderate – every 2-20 years Social, economic and environmental LocalDrought High – every 5 years or less Social, economic and environmental Binational102 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Atlantic storms will double in the next century. 307Nevertheless this forecast is not universallyaccepted, as the debate continues regardingthe links between climate change and thefrequency and average energy of hurricanes inthe Caribbean. Other forecasts with relation toclimate change are increased temperatures and308, 309, 310increased rainfall variability and intensity.This, in turn will all have a negative impact on rainfed agriculture, the mainstay of the economy ofthe border zone.In summary, there is a high potential for somesort of shock in the border zone on at least anannual basis, although it is impossible to predictthe location, scale and intensity. Over a periodof 20 years, for example, this level of vulnerabilitytranslates into a near certainty for severalshocks, both minor and major. This has criticalimplications for forecasting and developmentplanning – essentially any forecasts and plansfor the border zone need to take into accountthe vulnerability and resilience levels of thelocal population, as well as the high probabilityfor shocks that will affect the current situationnegatively.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone103

Part 4 The way forward10. Findings andRecommendations10.1 Key findingsKey findings of this study are listed below. Thereis strong evidence of the ongoing vulnerability ofthe region to slow decline, as well as to shocksthat may rapidly accelerate that decline therebydegrading the stability and development statusof the border zone.• Several of the noted problems in the borderzone, such as deforestation and soil erosion,are very large scale and have been developingfor several generations. Degradation in theworst parts of the Haitian border zone is almostcompletely irreversible, due to a near total lossof vegetation cover and productive topsoilacross wide areas. Based on observed trends,including the use of detrimental practicessimilar to those which have caused much of thedegradation in Haiti, soil erosion and productivitylosses are forecast to increase significantly inthe Dominican side of the border zone.• The three direct causes of land degradationin the border zone are the same as for therest of Haiti and for parts of the DominicanRepublic: a near total absence of erosioncontrol measures for cleared land on slopes;land clearing for agriculture, including the useof fire (slash-and-burn agriculture); and treecutting for energy – both charcoal and fuelwood. Illegal charcoal trade or slash and burnagriculture occurring across the border is nearlyalways made possible by alliances betweenDominicans and Haitians.• Climate change could increase the frequencyand average energy of hurricanes in the Caribbean,a situation that would leave Haiti andthe Dominican Republic even more vulnerablethan they are at present. 311 Other forecastswith relation to climate change are increasedtemperatures and increased rainfall variability,which would have a negative impact on rainfed agriculture, the mainstay of the economyof the border zone. The forecast therefore is forclimate change to worsen the current situationin the long term.• Several issues related to the environment andthe use of natural resources present a shortterm high instability risk in the relations betweenthe populations of the two countries. Theseinclude illegal charcoal trade; illegal farmingand cutting of trees on Dominican land andinside Dominican Republic protected areas;unclear marine territorial delimitation and illegaltransboundary fishing; and flooding of land andinfrastructure due to the rapid rise of lake Azueiand lake Enriquillo.• On the opportunity side, important progress hasalready been achieved by a limited numberof ad hoc local and national initiatives, suchas the Frontera Verde tree planting brigades,commune level bi-national cooperation andcooperation between livelihood associationson both sides of the border. Sustainableagricultural programmes such as agroforestry,and associated trade also represent a largeopportunity for poverty reduction in the borderregion. 312 However it was well noted that most ofthese commendable efforts are at continual riskof reversal and even collapse due to financialshortfalls or a lack of political or institutionalsupport.• The 20 key issues identified in the border havefour main underlying driving forces: Haitian poverty,food insecurity and underdevelopment;environmental degradation; weak governance;and Haiti-Dominican Republic economic andresource inequalities. Most of these drivingforces are national in scale. This means thatit would not be viable to only develop standalone environmental or local solutions – insteadan integrated and larger scale approach isoften needed. For example rural food insecurityand extreme poverty are in part driving theunsustainable slash and burn agricultural practiceson the Haitian side and the associatedmassive soil erosion and deforestation. Similarly,104 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

A charcoal kiln burning inside the forest on the Dominican side of the border seen from the vantage point ofa denuded hillside on the Haitian side of the border, a couple of km outside of the Dominican town of PedroSantana.© UNEPlocal charcoal demand is not significant in theborder zone. It is the demand in Port-au-Princewhich is driving the whole charcoal economy,calling for a national scale solution on energy.Finally, land tenure and tenant farming aremajor obstacles, farmers understandably areprepared to invest only in land they eitherown or can confidently control for longerperiods.Most solutions would need to be bi-national or atleast bi-nationally agreed, due to the very highinter-connectivity of populations and issues acrossthe border.10.2 Preface to the recommendationsThe value and impact of this assessment iscompletely dependent upon the follow upactions that it provokes. The analysis indicatesboth a difficult situation at present and worse tocome in the absence of successful interventionsfor the issues noted. There is a solid economicrationale for early interventions: acting now mayavoid damaging instability and also much moreexpensive interventions at a later date.It is acknowledged however that economic andother resources are limited in both countries. Theextent of feasible international assistance is alsorelatively limited compared to the scale of theissues noted. Hence selection of an appropriatestrategy for response and prioritization will be key.Finally, the responsibility for many issues is shared,however recommendations are more effectiveif they are clearly assigned to specific partiesin each government with the mandate for theirimplementation. The international community isHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone105

equested to help provide resources and buildcapacity.In this context, the recommendations are presentedin two parts:• Border zone: Detailed recommendations forthe border zone only and that apply eitherto both governments or require very closecooperation between the Governments to beimplemented successfully or avoid generatingunnecessary conflicts. These recommendationsare targeted at issues that are very muchborder specific and/or represent the spilloverof Haitian national issues into Dominicanterritory.• Haitian national level: Detailed recommendationsfor national level investmentsfor the Government of Haiti only. Theserecommendations target well known existingHaitian specific issues, with the main emphasison selection of investments that will also helpresolve issues in the border zone.There are no recommendations for national levelinvestments for Dominican Government alone – allrelevant recommendations are bi-national. Thisis because all proposed recommendations forthe Dominican government will have substantiveimplications for the large population of Haitiancitizens visiting, living and working in the DominicanRepublic – and therefore the Government of Haitimust be engaged.The target audience for these recommendationsconsists of policy makers and planners in the twogovernments and the international communitysupporting those governments. The detailedTable 5. Summary of the key recommendations, duration and cost estimates. The table also containsthe prioritization of the recommendations, as detailed by the Haitian and Dominican governmentcounterparts (I being the highest priority and III the lowest).Recommendations Description ScheduleCost/yearPriorityPriority(years)(M USD)(Haiti)(DominicanRepublic)Bi-National Border Zone RecommendationsPractical Action1 Protecting and increasing thevegetation cover2 Sustainable agriculturaldevelopment3 Transboundary river flood riskreduction4 Improve sustainability oftransboundary trade and binationalmarkets, while reducingtheir environmental impacts5 Border zone economicdevelopment and diversification6 Address pollution oftransboundary riversContinue support to bi-nationalreforestation effortsReform and develop the artisanaland small scale agricultural sectorin the border zoneInvest in flood containment andland use planning for affectedDominican and Haitian townshipsSupport and improve conditionsof existing bi-national markets topromote sustainable tradeEncourage the transition fromsubsistence agriculture to MSMEled local economic developmentAddress the problem of solidand bacteoroligical wastecontamination in transboundaryrivers5+ 2 I I5 3 II I2 5 III II3 8 III III5+ 5 II I3 2 III II106 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Table 5. Summary of the key recommendations, duration and cost estimates. (continued)Recommendations Description ScheduleCost/yearPriorityPriority(years)(M USD)(Haiti)(DominicanRepublic)Improving Cooperation and Governance7 Improve existing transboundarycooperation mechanisms thatdeal with environmental issuesand transboundary watersheds8 Environmental governance andregulation and control of thecharcoal trade and other forestproducts9 Strengthen the management ofmarine and coastal resources inthe border zoneResearch and Analysis10 Lake Azuei and Lake Enriquilloflooding analysisBuild on, and expand, existingcooperation mechanisms andplatforms. Emphasize informationsharing and building the capacityof the Haitian government to workon bi-national projects.Increase enforcement ofDominican and Haitian lawsrelated to forest conservation andprotected areasTake steps to reduce the ongoingdecline of the marine and coastalenvironmentResearch the causes for the riseof the sea level in Lakes Azuei andEnriquillo5+ 2 II III5+ 5 I I5+ 2 III II2 0,5 I IIIHaitian National Level Investment Recommendations1 Improving governance in ruralIncrease the presence of the stateas per nat.as per nat.areasin rural areas, while ensuring thestrategic planstrategic planIIinvolvement of local stakeholders2 Non-agricultural economicdevelopment and diversificationProvide alternatives to subsistenceagricultureas per nat.strategic planas per nat.strategic planII3 Replace charcoal with LPG inImplement an integratedas per nat.as per nat.urban centresprogramme to replace the use ofstrategic planstrategic plancharcoal and study the potentialIIimpacts a ban on the charcoaltrade will have in Haiti4 Sustainable agriculturaldevelopment and reforestationPromote sustainable agriculturalpractices and tree plantingas per nat.strategic planas per nat.strategic planIIrecommendations include estimates of the costsgenerated and of the schedules. In addition theynominate the owners of the recommendations,that is to say the parties responsible for theirimplementation. Donors and UN agencies cansupport either governments, but are not recommendationowners. The recommendations arefollowed by a proposed overall response strategy.This strategy can be applied to prioritizing boththe detailed recommendations provided andalso to any other proposed interventions in theborder zone.Table 5 summarizes the key recommendations suggestedby this report. The recommendations havebeen developed based on the analysis laid out inthe previous chapters, in order to present informedsuggestions for actions by the two governmentsand their international partners. If implemented,the recommendations are anticipated to:Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone107

Children playing outside their home in the small town of Meillac by the Massacre River in the north of theisland.© UNEP• reduce chronic poverty and hunger in theborder zone, while promoting more sustainablelivelihood practices and enhancing the resilienceof the population to shocks and stresses.• preserve peaceful relations between the twocountries through increased national and locallevel bilateral cooperation while reducingtensions over border zone issues.• contribute in a small but useful manner to thenational scale sustainable development andstability of both countries.The recommendations aim to address theidentified key issues and underlying driving forcesthat affect the situation in the border zone. AnnexIV summarizes how the 14 recommendationsdetailed in this chapter set out to address theidentified underlying driving forces. For an analysison how the key issues identified are linked to theunderlying driving forces, please refer to table 3in chapter 9.3.10.3 Bi-national border zonerecommendationsIntroductionThe bi-national and border zone recommendationslisted below apply either to both governmentsor require very close cooperation betweenthe governments to be implemented. Althoughmany of the underlying problems these recommendationsset out to address are originating,or are more severe on the Haitian side of theborder, it is in the interest of both countries to investin their implementation, and to further invest inan integrated strategy for managing the borderzone.The recommendations are in line with theobjectives set out in the Haitian Strategic Plan forthe Development of Haiti: Emerging Country by2030, as well as the Law No. 1-12 on the NationalDevelopment Strategy of the Dominican Republic313, 3142030.108 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Ten recommendations are provided under threethemes. The individual recommendations aredesigned for minimal overlap in budget andimplementation, however there are many stronglinkages and synergies – the whole is larger thanthe sum of its parts.Practical action1. Protecting and increasing the vegetation cover.2. Sustainable agricultural development.3. Transboundary river flood risk reduction.4. Improve the sustainability of transboundarytrade and the bi-national markets, whilereducing their environmental impacts.5. Border zone economic development anddiversification.6. Address pollution of transboundary rivers.Improving cooperation and governance7. Improve existing transboundary cooperationmechanisms that deal with environmentalissues and transboundary watersheds.8. Environmental governance and regulationand control of the charcoal trade and otherforest products.9. Strengthen the management of marine andcoastal resources in the border zone.Research and analysis10. Lake Azuei and Lake Enriquillo flooding analysis.Practical action1. Protecting and increasing the vegetationcover: Continue to financially and politicallysupport the bi-national reforestation efforts.Reform efforts as needed to improve Haitianand Dominican Government ownership, whileensuring a participatory approach amongaffected communities. Increase technicalassistance to improve the quality, consistencyand sustainability of the re-forestation effortsand implement a more strategic re-forestationprogram.Design & scopea. Focus re-forestation activities to areas mostvulnerable and erosion prone (steep slopes etc)rather than just where land is available.b. Expand the species list targeted for reforestationto respond to local demand and provide selfsustaining livelihood options through strategicplanting of various species of trees (fruit trees,Plant nurseries that have been set up in the border zone furnish the re-forestation brigades with saplings.© UNEPHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone109

honey production etc.) and the creation ofcommunal tree nurseries.c. Expand the species listed for reforestation toinclude trees suitable for fuel wood collection,and also charcoal production in some Haitianareas.d. Include contracts with the landowners to ensuresurvival of planted trees and sustainability. Alsocontinue to support re-forestation activities withtechnical assistance, including techniciansvisiting the sites on a regular basis.e. Extend the scope of work beyond reforestationto include installation of erosion control featureswith integrated revegetation. Examplesinclude contour lines of elephant grass andbamboo planting integrated with rock gullyplug installations.f. Include the most vulnerable population in thework of the brigades in reforestation, and takeinto consideration the periodic vulnerabilityof the population. This includes removing therequirement of having to be able to offer at least1.25 carreau of land for the project, in order tobe able to become a member of a brigade,as it is removing a critical number of needyhouseholds to this cash for work project, as wellas households that are likely to be engaged incharcoal production.g. Schedule short term employment interventionsif possible for when there is the greatest need.For example energy, water and food insecurityoccur specific times of the year, when alternativesolutions are mostly needed.h. The cooperation and exchange of informationbetween the various international reforestationand rehabilitation projects on-going in the borderzone should be increased, in order to avoidoverlap and increase the value for money spent.i. Prioritize upper catchment reforestation fortransboundary catchments to cap existing floodrisks (see below).RationaleLand degradation is a major issue in the borderregion and deforestation is ongoing. Increasedforest cover can arrest further degradation.Labour intensive reforestation projects can provideshort-term alternative livelihood opportunities andthereby decrease pressure on illegal transboundarydeforestation and charcoal production.Re-forestation brigades have also shown to beable to increase awareness on more sustainablepractices within the communities where they work,while the on-going MPP project has proven to bea good platform for transboundary cooperationon the ministerial level between the two countries.Cost: US$ 2 million per annumSchedule: 5 years+Responsibility: Ministry of Environment Haiti. Ministryof Environment and Natural Resources DominicanRepublic.2. Sustainable agricultural development:Reform and develop the artisanal and smallscale agricultural sector in the border zone toimprove sustainability and livelihoods.Design & scopea. Train farmers in sustainable practices andcrops that are suitable for the various locationsand climates existing along the border zone.Examples including fruit tree grafting and planting,agroforestry, improved seeds, seed storage,crop rotation, fertilizer use and drip irrigation.b. Supplement technical support with logisticaland financial support for widely disseminatedsmall scale investments such as fruit seedlings,improved seeds, fertilizer, seed bins, drip irrigationequipment.c. Introduce agricultural micro-credit.d. Address the issue of land tenure in the isolatedparts of the border zone on the Dominicanside (Elias Piña province) where this still is akey problem. (Haitian land tenure is a nationalscale priority).e. Strengthen the capacity of farmer organizationsto enable spreading of best practice, pooledsupport, shorter supply chains between theproducers and end customers and economiesof scale in implementing the introduced reformsand improvements.f. Strengthen the capacity of communities tobetter utilize organic waste.g. Enforce a ban on the use of slash and burnagriculture whilst presenting viable alternatives.RationaleAt present artisanal and small scale agriculturein the border zone (both sides of the border) is110 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

oth environmentally damaging and limitedin productivity. Moving beyond the destructivecycle of slash and burn agriculture requires longterm and technically intensive investment in bothpractical support and changing mindsets.Cost: US$ 3 million per annumSchedule: 5 yearsResponsibility: Ministry of Agriculture NaturalResources and Rural Development Haiti. Ministryof Agriculture and Ministry of Environment in theDominican Republic.3. Transboundary river flood risk reduction:Invest in flood containment and land useplanning for affected Dominican and Haitiantownships on a long term worst case scenarioDesign & scopea. Map and control the downstream areas of highflood risk zones. This will need to extend to formaldemarcation of zones, relocation of housingand prohibition of further development.b. Invest in improved/flood-resilient critical roadsand bridges in the flood zones.c. Invest in flood containment infrastructure:gabions and revetments, to channel thefloodwaters past towns and high value areasand infrastructure.d. Invest in better understanding the causes ofthe floods and in establishing functioning earlywarning systems for communities at risk.RationaleThe flash floods which have previously damagedselected Dominican and Haitian towns (Jimani,Fonds Verrets, Pedernales, Anse-à-Pitre) in theborder zone are linked to severe and mostlyirreversible degradation of the catchments inHaitian territory. These risks must therefore beconsidered permanent and not reducible vialow-cost upstream interventions. Further degradationof the watersheds may be partly controlledby reforestation, so these catchments should betargeted as priority for the Frontera Verde initiative.Note that though this is a major issue faced bytowns in both countries, it is only a transboundaryissue in selected cases.Cost: US$ 5 million per annumSchedule: 2 yearsResponsibility: National Emergency Commissionand the National Water Resource Instituteof the Dominican Republic. Haitian Ministry ofEnvironment.4. Improve the sustainability of transboundarytrade and the bi-national markets,while reducing their environmentalimpacts: Support the existing bi-nationalmarkets while providing better structures andopportunities for fair, profitable and moresustainable trade between the two countries.Design & scopea. Re-design the current structures of the binationalmarkets and re-build new ones onneutral ground, which would lead to equaltreatment, as well as reduce the pollution ofnearby watercourses, and improve the hygienicconditions of facilities thereby reducing the riskof bacterial contamination.b. Improve the negotiating power of small-scalefarmers through support of the formation offarming cooperatives.c. Stop the illegal/grey transboundary trade inenvironmentally sensitive goods, as well assubsidized products targeted for use in onecountry only (fertilizer, rice).d. Involve the UNEP Green Customs Initiative totrain customs and enforcement officers on thecontrol of trade in environmentally sensitivecommodities.RationaleThe bi-national markets are the largest and mostimportant sites of border zone petty trade. Theirimpact is overall positive but they need reformand in some cases rebuilding, to reduce theirenvironmental impacts, improve equality, andreduce conflict. Improved policing of transboundarytrading in general (both at the markets andthe main freight border crossings) is needed tosuppress trade of subsidized and environmentallyharmful goods.Cost: US$ 8 million per annumSchedule: 3 yearsResponsibility: Ministry of Industry & Commerce,Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources,municipalities, and the General Directorate ofCustoms in the Dominican Republic. Ministries ofCommerce and Interior in Haiti.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone111

5. Border zone economic developmentand diversification: Encourage the transitionfrom subsistence agriculture and illegal anddamaging activities to micro–, small– andmedium sized enterprises (MSME) led localeconomic development in agriculture, forestry,fisheries, commerce and tourism.Design & scopea. Extend existing successful technical assistanceand microcredit schemes into the border zone.Initially target the large unmet demand formicrocredit from existing under – capitalizedMSMEs.b. Link assistance to environmentally sustainablelivelihood options, such as agroforestry,sustainable fisheries, agricultural processingand eco-tourism.c. Link assistance to disadvantaged and at riskgroups, such as women, youth and communitiespartly dependent upon illegal ortransboundary activities.d. Invest in tourism in the border zone for the targetmarket of international tourist day and shortterm trippers from the Dominican Republic.Potential attractions include historical sites,mangroves, reef and wreck diving, music andhandicrafts. Establish transboundary links toensure a coherent package and adequatecare of tourists whilst in Haiti.RationaleAt present there are no large scale manufacturingenterprises in the border zone and relatively limitedpotential for them being established in the future,given the current emphasis on the Caracol region.The border zone local economy is therefore currentlydependent upon MSMEs, petty trade andunsustainable subsistence livelihoods. BoostingMSMEs and the service economy is a proven routefor economic development and drawing localpopulations away from unsustainable livelihoods.Field reconnaissance, interviews and householdsurveys all found that a lack of small scale capitalis currently one of the greatest obstacles for MSMEsin both countries in the border zone. The borderzone has niche tourism potential, which at presentis completely unexploited.Responsibility: Ministries of Industry & Commerce,Tourism, Environment & Natural Resources, andmunicipalities in the Dominican Republic. HaitianMinistries of Commerce and Industry, Interior andLocal Authorities, and Tourism.6. Address pollution of transboundaryrivers: Reduce the amount of solid andbacteriological waste in transboundary riversand phase down the threat to public healthposed by waterborne diseases.Design & scopea. Ameliorate the bi-national governancestructures that deal with transboundary watersheds.b. Conduct basic measuring and assessments ofthe water quality, type of contamination andmain sources of pollution in the transboundaryriversc. Focus on municipal management of solidwaste and bacteriological contaminationd. Invest in basic waste management educationwithin communities bordering the water coursesin both rural and urban areas.e. Provide the necessary waste handlinginfrastructure.RationaleWater pollution is a widespread problem intransboundary rivers. It is endemic to both countriesdue to their inadequate waste management,sanitation and wastewater treatment. The pollutionin these rivers comes from households, villages andcities, and is such that the water spreads diseaseand is unsuitable for domestic use in many areas,especially downstream.Cost: US$ 2 million per annumSchedule: 3 yearsResponsibility: Ministries of Environment &Natural Resources, Public Health and Welfare,municipalities, National Institute of Potable Waterand Sewage in the Dominican Republic. Ministryof Environment and Ministry of Public Health andPopulation of Haiti.Cost: US$ 5 million per annumSchedule: 5 years+112 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Improving cooperation and governance7. Improve existing transboundary cooperationmechanisms that deal withenvironmental issues and transboundarywatersheds: Build on the mechanisms andplatforms for cooperation that already exist onvarious levels, to create a functioning networkof cooperation, both across the border, as wellas between the local and national levels. Theoverall cooperation framework, under whichthe other mechanisms should exist, should onthe highest level be chaired by the presidentsof the two nations, in order to ensure necessarypolitical will and allocation of resources.Design & scopea. Use the findings and recommendations of thisstudy to inform on-going initiatives under theJoint Dominican-Haitian Bilateral Commission(“Commission mixte binational haitianodominicaine”),including the memorandumof understanding between the ministries ofplanning, the memorandum of understandingon border security, the Bolivarian fund forsolidarity with Haiti, as well as the memorandumof understanding on cross-bordertransportation.b. Strengthen the Haitians’ capacity to interacton an equal level with their Dominicancounterparts on national and community levelcooperation mechanisms, ranging from thebi-national commission to community levelmayors associations. This process would involveimproving information sharing and technicaltraining and sourcing of operational funds.c. Emphasize information sharing between thetwo countries, as well as information sharingand coordination between on-going andfuture projects in the border zone.d. Formalize and support the existing local levelinformal transboundary cooperation mechanisms,and that currently to a large extent isbased on interpersonal relationships, to ensurethe long-term survival of such successfulinitiatives. This would include the bi-nationalcommune/mayors forums and partnershipsbetween livelihood groups from both sidesof the border (associations of fishermen andbeekeepers etc).e. Create dedicated policing, conflict resolutionand information exchange mechanisms atthe different levels, from national to local,including cooperation between authorities ofboth countries to resolve disputes and combatcross-border illegal activities and crimes.f. Ensure any large scale mining, energy orwater resource projects with the potential fortransboundary impacts are integrated intothe agenda of the high level cooperationmechanisms.g. Promote open exchange of informationand the development of joint projects onthe bi-national level. This includes improvingthe management of transboundary naturalresources: fish stocks, forests and water.RationaleTransboundary/bi-national co-operation structuresalready exist on various levels, but lackresources for effective implementation. Existingmechanisms include the Joint Dominican-HaitianBilateral Commission, the border developmentagencies, the Haitian parliamentary commissionfor the border, bi-national projects implementedby international organizations, associationsof mayors in the border zone and informalcooperation between community leaders andlivelihood groups. These various mechanismsand structures represent good cooperation/conflict resolution platforms which should befurther strengthened and institutionalized, as theyare perceived positively by stakeholders in bothcountries.However, all stakeholders point out the lack of balancebetween Haiti and the Dominican Republic,where most of the Haitian structures currently lackhuman, financial and technical capacities and tosome extent suffer from a lack of political weightand backing. In addition, the flow and exchangeof information on the border landscape is stillinsufficient, be it across the border or from thelocal to the national level in Haiti.Cost: USD 2 million per annumSchedule: 5 years+Responsibility: Ministry of Foreign Affairs in theDominican Republic and in Haiti.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone113

8. Environmental governance and regulationand control of the charcoal tradeand other forest products: Increaseenforcement of Dominican and Haitian law onprotected areas and forest conservation.Design & scopea. Better protect forests and national parks andreserves in or near the border in the DominicanRepublic against illegal settlements, agriculturalclearing and charcoal production.b. For regulation and control of the charcoal trade,focus on the Dominican side of the border zonenear Lake Azuei. Aim for long term full suppressionof the trade rather than episodic crackdowns.This includes confronting the problem of Dominicanlandowners involved in the production andcomplicity of government and border officialswho allow the trade to take place.c. Create buffer zones surrounding the protectedareasd. Strengthen provincial (Dominican Republic) anddepartmental (Haiti) offices of the Ministries ofenvironment.e. Develop plans to control conflict, avoid humanrights violations and deal with transboundaryissues in the course of enforcement.f. Investigate the possible impacts of any sanctionsagainst – or indeed the total suppression of – thecharcoal trade. Of particular importance is thequestion of what consequences such measureswould have for the Haitian population, much ofwhich is dependant on charcoal for daily energy,and some of which relies on the charcoal tradefor subsistence. Consider options to reduce therisk of unrest during period of transition fromcharcoal to more sustainable sources of energy.RationaleThe Dominican Republic has adequate laws forthe management of protected areas and soil andforestry conservation, however they are not beingadequately enforced in the border zone, andserious degradation is ongoing. Major complicationsin this task are widespread rural poverty andunderemployment, corruption and the presenceand involvement of large numbers of Haitian legaland illegal immigrants.On the Haitian side, protected areas also sufferfrom a lack of necessary funds, resources andpolitical support for protected area management.Suppressing the transboundary charcoaltrade will most likely result in some level of unrestamong the large number of Haitians who relyon charcoal for their daily energy needs. Theimpacts of such a suppression is therefore to bewell understood and mitigating actions are to beconsidered.Cost: US$ 5 million per annumSchedule: 5 years+Responsibility: Ministry of Environment and NaturalResources in the Dominican Republic. Ministries ofInterior – both countries.9. Strengthen the management of marineand coastal resources in the border zone:Slow the decline of the marine and coastalenvironment in the border zone by preventingencroachment and stopping practices thatdegrade the environment.Design & scopea. Build a conflict resolution mechanism pertainingto the transboundary use and trade of fish andother marine resources by creating thematicdialogue tables between relevant actors at thelocal level, as well as by organizing a formalcoordination platform at a high political level.The latter should be tasked with managingconflict, resources, and territory delimitation,and should actively seek the participationof government authorithies, private sector,fishermen associations etc.b. Reinforce the relevant directions in the Haitianministries, such as the Direction of Fisheries inthe MARNDR, which is understaffed throughout,including at the departmental level.c. Enforce existing – and create new – protectedmarine areas in which functioning fishing bansare in place, so as to slow or halt the depletionof fish stocks while remaining mindful of theeconomical health of the communities thatrely on those stocks. Establish such protectedareas in collaboration with fishermen associations,in order to ensure buy-in and successfulimplementation of the protected areas.d. Ban the cutting of mangroves for the establishmentof new salt panse. Provide incentives for switching from the use ofmangrove as firewood to other energy sources114 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

f. Create and formalize fishing agreementsbetween the two countries, where money isexchanged for access to fishing areas.g. Develop the capacity of public sector institutionsand local organizations for the conservationand the management of coastal and marineresources.h. Promote the environmental sanitation of thecoastal zone and develop its tourism potential.i. Restore degraded coastal areas through reforestationwith endemic, native and/or naturalizedcoastal-marine species.RationaleThe marine and coastal environment is beingdegraded, mainly by overfishing, unsustainablefishing practices, the cutting of mangroves forfirewood, contamination, and salt production.Both Haitians and Dominicans infringe on oneanother’s territorial waters daily. Haitians generallyfish close inshore, whilst Dominicans fish bothinshore and further offshore. While coastal andmarine resources provide excellent opportunitiesfor income generation and cooperation of atransboundary nature, these resources are alsoissues of serious transboundary concern, creatingclashes and tensions between communities onboth sides of the border, as well as between Haitianfishermen and Dominican authorities.Cost: US$ 3 million per annumSchedule: 5 years+Responsibility: Ministry of Environment andMinistry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and RuralDevelopment in Haiti. Ministry of Environment andNatural Resources in the Dominican Republic.Research and analysis10. Lake Azuei and Lake Enriquillo floodinganalysis: Undertake a hydrological datacollection and analysis study on the causes ofthe rise in the level of Lakes Azuei and Enriquilloand its potential to keep rising.Design & scopea. Start immediately with installation of a basiclevel monitoring system and follow up withmore detailed analysis of the lake and itscatchments.b. Only develop recommendations for large scaleinvestments once the root causes and optionsare established with reasonable certainty.RationaleThe lakes have been steadily rising – up to onemeter per year since 2004 – for reasons thatare still largely unknown. The rise has causeda number of problems. Since 2008, the maintransboundary route between Port-au-Prince andSanto Domingo has been gradually submergedon both the Haitian and Dominican sides, andagricultural land has been flooded on both sidesof the border.Cost: US$ 0.5 million per annum – for the assessmentonlySchedule: 2 yearsResponsibility: Ministry of Environment in Haiti.Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources inthe Dominican Republic.10.4 Haitian national level investmentrecommendationsThe recommendations specifically for Haiti are notnew, rather they are concerned with reinforcementand endorsement, as well as the prioritization ofexisting initiatives at the Haitian national level,specifically the Haitian Strategic Plan for theDevelopment of Haiti: Emerging Country by 2030(Plan stratégique de développement d’Haïti: Paysémergent en 2030 – hereafter referred as the“strategic plan”). 315 This strategic plan is, as it shouldbe, very ambitious and broad reaching, howeverfinancing its implementation and prioritization isan ongoing issue.In this context, Haitian national level investmentrecommendations are limited to the four toppriorities most relevant to the border zone:1. Improving governance in rural areas2. Non-agricultural economic development anddiversification3. Replace charcoal with LPG in urban centres4. Sustainable agricultural development andreforestationA cross-cutting theme for all recommendations isto shift the development model towards a “greeneconomy”, enabling development whilst stabilizingand conserving the remaining natural resources.Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone115

1. Improving governance and communityparticipation in rural areas: Increasingthe presence and role of the state in ruralareas, while ensuring the involvement of localauthorities, community leaders and civil society,covering a broad range of responsibilitiesincluding social services, policing, customs,town administration, agricultural and businessdevelopment and environmental protection.Design & Scope:a. As per the strategic plan. Relevant paragraphsto refer to in the Haitian Strategic Plan for theDevelopment of Haiti are Programme 4.4(Modernize the administration) and Programme4.5 (Decentralize the administration).Rationale: The very limited presence and influenceof the Haitian state in rural areas was notedthroughout the assessment and weak governancewas noted as a root cause behind a wide rangeof issues. There is no substitute for the presence ofa functioning and supportive state. The emphasison this recommendation is to extend the statepresence out to rural areas, with prioritization ongrowth poles and sensitive areas such as theborder.Cost, schedule and responsibility: As per theStrategic Plan.2. Non-agricultural economic developmentand diversification: Providing viable alternativesto subsistence agriculture through largescale development of the manufacturing andservice sectors, particularly in the main urbancentres.Design & Scope:a. As per the strategic plan. Relevant paragraphsto refer to in the Haitian Strategic Plan forthe Development of Haiti are, among other,Programme 1.4 (renovate urban areas), Programme2.4 (invest in industrial development),Programme 2.5 (modernize the service sectorand make it more dynamic), Programme 2.6(support the development of the tourism sector),and Programme 2.7 (take advantage of existingmineral and energy resources).Rationale: The Haitian side of the border zone hasclearly already exceeded its sustainable holdingcapacity based on subsistence livelihoods.Agricultural and MSME development has thepotential to slightly ameliorate this issue, but willbe insufficient given the current population densityand ongoing growth rates. Large scale employmentneeds to be created elsewhere in Haiti, inurban zones more suitable for a manufacturingand service economy.Cost, schedule and responsibility: As per theStrategic Plan.3. Replace charcoal with LPG: Implement anintegrated programme of regulatory reform,incentives and enforcement rapidly to replacethe use of charcoal for cooking with LPG,supplemented by other alternative energyoptions (including renewables) and improvedelectrification of the country. The programmewould focus on urban centres and Port-au-Prince in particular.Design & Scopea. As per the strategic plan. Relevant paragraphsto refer to in the Haitian Strategic Plan for theDevelopment of Haiti is programme 1.2 (environmentallysound practices), and in particularsub-programme 1.2.4 that deals with the useof wood and charcoal for energy use and theneed for an intervention plan supporting achange towards the use of LPG gas, as well asprogramme 1.6 (increase the electrification ofthe country).b. Streamline with other on-going initiatives orinitiatives that are commencing, such as theThe Bolivarian Fund for Solidarity with Haitithat is targeted to include the buying anddisbursement of 2 million gas canisters andgas cookers to households in need in Haiti, andstrengthening of the Haitian national electricitygrid.c. Invest in catalyzing long term large scale andeconomically sustainable growth of the LPGmarket rather than short term grant basedinjections of materials or unsustainable gasprice subsidies.d. Collaborate with the private sector on distributionnetworks etc.e. Collaborate with Dominican authorities to learnwhat has worked, and what has not, based ontheir experiences in implementing a similarscheme.f. Once a system is in place in main urban centers,expand to rural areas.116 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

g. In the long term, aim for various alternativeenergy options, including increased electrificationthrough hydro and wind power.Rationale The over-dependence of Haiti oncharcoal for cooking has been long recognizedas a national scale problem. It is now a significantbi-national problem as well. Supply orientedsolutions such as reforestation and protectedarea management cannot succeed withoutparallel demand reduction. At present the mostviable alternative to charcoal for cooking is LPG,which already has a small market share in Haitiand dominates the cooking energy market in theDominican Republic. The Haitian Government hasalready developed a national strategy paper andshort term action plan for LPG expansion, but it isyet to be implemented.Cost, schedule and responsibility: In line with thestrategic plan.4. Sustainable agricultural development andre-forestation: Implement the Haiti 2010National Plan for Agriculture, with a particularemphasis on sustainability. Replace the unsustainablecultivation of slash-and-burn, annualcrops on steep slopes and degraded land withtree planting, with a particular emphasis onagroforestry and energy cropping. Integrateerosion control measures into all agriculturallandscapes. Extract greater value from remainingviable land with improved inputs and techniquesand investments in agricultural value chaindevelopment.Design and Scope:a. As per the 2010 National Plan, as well asprogramme 1.2 (environmentally soundpractices) and 2.2 (modernize and makeagricultural practices and livestock keepingmore dynamic).Rationale: Agriculture is still the mainstay of theHaitian economy so there is major scope forimprovement, simply by broadly applying existingproven techniques. The need for reforestation andland tenure reform is also clear. National capacityin reforestation is already extensive, with insufficientfunding and land tenure being the main obstaclesat present.Cost and schedule: In line with the strategicplan.Responsibility: Haiti Ministry of Environment andMinistry of Agriculture, Natural Resources andRural Development, Inter-ministerial committee forterritorial management (CIAT).10.5 Implementation and financingof the recommendationsThe recommended strategy for responding to themany issues noted in this report is as follows:1. Once priorities have been agreed by the twogovernments and partner organizations to thisassessment, and endorsed by the issuing ofthis report, the focus should be on financing,detailed design and then implementation ofpractical action. The analysis indicates highlevels of certainty for most issues and trends –further research and analysis is only warrantedin a limited number of cases.2. For pragmatic financial reasons, both governmentsshould be realistic in terms of what canand should be achieved within the borderzone. Very large amounts of funding could intheory completely fix many of the issues noted,however this would unduly drain resources awayfrom other national scale priorities. Communitiesand civil society should also play a key rolein the implementation on the ground.3. Divide the necessary investments into two types,both addressing the key issues and underlyingdriving forces identified in this study:A. Multiple tightly targeted national andbi-national investments in the border zone.These investments are recommended insome detail in this report.B. Up to 5 tightly targeted single theme andmajor investments at the national level forHaiti, which, if fully successful, will also extendto resolving many issues in the border. Theseinvestments should be drawn from existingGovernment owned national plans and so arereferenced but not detailed in this report.4. Adopt a conflict-sensitive approach to containthe risks of destabilization associated withinterventions, in order not to exacerbatepre-existing tensions or create new ones. Thisincludes interventions to address issues suchas illegal charcoal production and illegalfishing in Dominican and Haitian territory, asHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone117

well as encroachment onto Dominican territoryby illegal Haitian migrants to access naturalresources and better economic opportunities.5. Anticipate and manage the highly politicalimplications of several of the recommendations.Note that several of the longer termsolutions will have difficulties at the start ofimplementation. Work proactively to controlpolitical opportunism and avoid the rise ofdamaging antagonism between communities.6. Integrate monitoring of the follow up of all of therecommendations into the terms of referenceof an existing bilateral working group of ministersand/or senior government officials. Ensureclear single point ownership and leadership ofspecific recommendation or actions.7. International donors should address the issuesnoted on a whole island basis, and providefunding for bi-national initiatives contributingto an integrated approach, rather than onlyproviding financing for one of the countries.8. Given the existing strong national ownershipof the issues and the long duration of therecommendations international developmentagencies should focus on the provision ofupfront technical assistance and capacitybuilding to enable long term independentimplementation of the recommendations bya combination of the two governments andlocal organizations.Prerequisites for implementationThe majority of recommendations presented herehave two prerequisites for implementation:1. Integration into government policy and strongbi-national cooperation. These recommendationshave been jointly developed and approved by theUnited Nations and the two governments.The chances of implementation however will begreatly improved if each owner fully adopts theirspecific list of recommendations and acts tointegrate them into existing national budget andcommunication processes and plans. The recommendationsrequiring bi-national implementationshould be further implemented under the auspicesof the joint bi-national commission and included inbudget and communication processes and plansof both countries.2. All of the recommendations require financingand some also require technical assistance. Thesupport of the international community will beneeded for partial financing and implementationof these recommendations. Only partial financingis requested as it is important that governmentownership of the recommendations is clear – andthis is best demonstrated by commitment of someof their own resources, however limited they may be.The United Nations and its partners stand ready tosupport the Governments of Haiti and the DominicanRepublic on demand to help implement theabove recommendations.© UNEP118 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone119

AnnexesAnnex I: Report terminology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120Annex II: List of acronyms and abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Annex III: Sustainable livelihoods framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Annex IV: Table connecting the recommendations to the driving forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Annex V: References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Annex VI: Acknowledgements and list of contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140120 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Annex I – Report terminologyArguments refer to its definition in the critical thinkingmodel. Presenting an argument in this contextrefers to presenting a set of facts and premises asreasons for a conclusion.Coping strategies are behavioral efforts thatpeople employ to tolerate, reduce, minimize,or overcome stressful events or shocks. They areshort-term responses to specific shocks such asdroughts. 316 Coping strategies have to be differentiatedfrom adaptive strategies which involvea long-term change in behaviors as a result of ashock or stress. 317 These can be related to food,water, or energy shocks.Direct causes are used to explain a specificphenomenon, such as the direct causes of landdegradation in the border zone.Driving forces are in this study defined asthe underlying forces that drive the livelihoodresponses and key issues observed in the borderzone. As an example poverty in Haiti is consideredto be a driving force behind Haitian emigration tothe Dominican Republic.The evidence base is the sum of material factsand other input such as interview opinions, fieldobservations and secondary data sources thatprovide the substantiation for a particular conclusion.The degree of confidence in a particularconclusion is linked to the evidence base. Anevidence base can vary both in depth (amount ofinformation) and uniformity (the level of uncertaintyand evidence potentially for and against specificarguments and conclusions).Forecasts are decision support tools: they assistdecision makers in visualizing future conditions orthe future status of conditions based on prevalenttrends. They help to identifying appropriate preparationsor interventions. They are particularly usefulin strategic planning where levels of uncertaintyare high and data is relatively limited.Key issues are topics of current concern in theborder zone and sometimes dispute. They can beboth acute (short term or episodic) and chronic(long term, continuous) in nature. Partly negativeissues are also sometimes labeled as challengesand completely negative issues are commonlylabeled as problems.Livelihoods are the capabilities, material andsocial assets, and activities required for a means ofliving. It is considered sustainable when it can copewith and recover from stresses and shocks, andmaintain or enhance its capabilities and assetsboth now and in the future, while not underminingthe natural resources base on which it relies. 318Opportunities are identified as favorable orpotentially favorable circumstances or periods,normally presented in the context of potentialfuture actions. In this context, some issues alsopresent opportunities.Shocks are generally unforeseen events (incidents,disasters, or conflicts) that have profoundconsequences on people’s livelihoods. Examplesof shocks are droughts, earthquakes, or violentconflicts.Stresses are conditions that put pressure onpeople’s livelihoods. They are of a different degreethan shocks both in magnitude (less extreme) andsuddenness (less sudden).Themes are different thematic areas in which keyissues fall under. Examples of these themes areagriculture, forest resources, freshwater resourcesand flooding, and coastal and marine resources.Tipping point is a point at which a systemundergoes a fundamental change and becomesgoverned by new processes and structures, oftenresulting in a material worsening of pre-existingproblems and trends.Trends are observed or interpreted general directionsand tendencies over time for specific issues.They can be positive, negative, or stable. Trendscan be either quantitative, for example historicalrainfall records, or qualitative and subjective, suchas the overall mood of current Haiti-DominicanHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone121

Republic intergovernmental relations comparedto the past. The predictability of trends can vary,from high to very low – essentially unpredictable.Triangulation of data is a research technique thatis used in this study to ensure that no conclusioncan be drawn from a single source without corroborationby others.The term watershed, meaning ‘an area or ridgeof land that separates waters flowing to differentrivers, basins, or seas or an area or region drainedby a river, river system, or other body of water,’is here used to refer to the various watersheds inthe border zone, as defined in the ‘geographicalscope’ section of the introduction.122 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Annex II – List of Acronyms and AbbreviationsAPPACASECCBMMCIATCIPCITDCPDGDFEEZFAOGCIGDPGEFGIZINARAIOMLPGMARNDRMEAMPPMWNGOPAEMSMEUNUNDPUNDP ARTUNEPWFPAsosyasyon pechè pou pwoteksyon ak anviwonman Anse a PitConseil d’Administration de la Section CommunaleCapacity Building for Migration ManagementInter-ministerial committee for territorial managementCaracol Industrial ParkComité Intermunicipal TransfronterizoDispositif de Concentration de PoissonsGeneral Directorate for Border DevelopmentExclusive Economic ZoneFood and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsGreen Customs InitiativeGross domestic productGlobal Environment FacilityDeutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale ZusammenarbeitHaitian Institute of Agrarian ReformInternational Organization for MigrationLiquefied petroleum gasMinistry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural DevelopmentMultilateral environmental agreementsRevegetation and transboundary natural resources management projectMegawattNon-governmental organizationEnvironmental Action PlanMicro, Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesUnited NationsUnited Nations Development ProgrammeUNDP Articulation of Territorial and Thematic Networks of Cooperation for HumanDevelopment initiativeUnited Nations Environment ProgrammeWorld Food ProgrammeHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone123

Annex III – Sustainable livelihoods frameworkSustainable livelihoods framework, based on original framework developed by the Department forInternational Development (DFID). 319Transforming structuresLivelihood outcomesVulnerability– Shocks– Trends– Seasonality3Livelihood assets– Human capital– Natural capital– Financial capital– Social capital– Physical capital-and processes– Levels of government– Private sector– Laws– Policies– Culture– Institutions3– More income– Increased well-being– Reduced vulnerability– Improved food security– More sustainable useof natural resourcebase124 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Annex IV – Table connecting therecommendations to the driving forcesUnderlying Driving ForcesLevel Category # Recommendations Haitian poverty,food insecurity, andunder developmentEnvironmentalDegradationWeak Governance Haiti-DR Economicand ResourceInequalitiesBinational Border Zone RecommendationsPractical Action1 Protecting and increasing the vegetation cover X X2 Sustainable agricultural development X X X3 Transboundary river flood risk reduction X X4 Improve sustainability of transboundary trade and binationalmarkets, while reducing their environmentalimpactsX X5 Border zone economic development and diversification X X X X6 Address pollution of transboundary rivers X XImproving Cooperation and Governance7 Improve existing transboundary cooperation mechanismsthat deal with environmental issues and transboundarywatersheds8 Environmental governance and regulation and control ofthe charcoal trade and other forest products9 Strengthen the management of marine and coastalresources in the border zoneResearch and AnalysisX X XX XX X X X10 Lake Azuei and Lake Enriquillo flood analysis XHaitian National Level Investment Recommendations1 Improving governance in rural areas X X2 Non-rural economic development and diversification X X X3 Replace charcoal with LPG in urban centres X X4 Sustainable agricultural development and reforestation X X XHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone125

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Annex VI – AcknowledgementsContributorsClaudia AdamesNicolas CisnerosPaul Judex EdouarzinBelkis FernandezLucile Gingembre (primary author)Dennis Hamro-Drotz (primary author)Mariot JeanDavid JensenAndrew Morton (primary author)Lucas de MuelenaereAntonio PereraMinistry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicUnited Nations Environment Programme Post-Conflictand Disaster Management BranchUnited Nations Environment Programme Haiti OfficeMinistry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicUnited Nations Environment Programme Post-Conflictand Disaster Management BranchUnited Nations Environment Programme Post-Conflictand Disaster Management BranchMinistry of Environment, HaitiUnited Nations Environment Programme Post-Conflictand Disaster Management BranchUnited Nations Environment Programme Post-Conflictand Disaster Management BranchUnited Nations Environment Programme Post-Conflictand Disaster Management BranchUnited Nations Environment Programme Haiti OfficeSenior Government Officials Contributing to the DocumentJoseph Ronald ToussaintJaime David Fernandez MirabalPatricia Abreu FernandezManuel SerranoMax Antoine IIPierre André GédéonMinistry of Environment, HaitiMinistry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicMinistry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicMinistry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicFonds Interministériel pour le Développement Transfrontalier,HaitiMinistry of Environment, HaitiInterviewed PersonsCornelio AcostaJacobo AcostaMinistry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicFishermen association “Agustin Munoz”Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone141

Joseph AstrelJean Robert BadioJose Enrique Baez UreñaEdna Blanc CivilJosé Cristino CastilloIjoassin ClemontRobert CrowleyPatricia Dore CastilloYves DuplanGeneral FlorentinoRafael GomezFernan Felix Gonzalez SanchezVillaire GuerrierClaude LatendresseLance S. LeverenzOlga Lobetty GomezJocelyn LouissaintEmmanuel LucenyPolicarpio Medrano VolquezRodolfo Meindez RamirezLuis MinielMaria Eugenia MoralesPatrick NicolasSergio NovasDaniel O’NeilJulio Ortega TousRosa ParesPierre PelissierCesar PeraltaMariana PerezMinistry of Environment, HaitiMinistry of Agriculture, Natural Resourcesand Rural Development, HaitiQuisqueya Verde, Dominican RepublicUNDP, Dominican RepublicMinistry of Agriculture, Dominican RepublicMinistry of Trade and Industry, HaitiOxfam Artibonite ProjectJoint Dominican-Haitian Bilateral CommissionUNDP HaitiGeneral Directorate of Border Development (DGDF),Dominican RepublicMinistry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicMinistry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicMPP projectSpanish Development Cooperation AgencyPan American Development FoundationMinistry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicHaitian State University, Faculté d’Agronomieet Medecine VeterinaireDocemont local authorithiesExport and Investment Center for the DominicanRepublic(CEIRD)Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicMayors association, Elias PiñaUNDP, Dominican RepublicOxfam Artibonite Project HaitiUN UNDP ART initiativePan American Development FoundationJoint Dominican-Haitian Bilateral CommissionUNDP, Dominican RepublicOuanaminthe local authoritiesMinistry of Environment and Natural Resources,Dominican RepublicDIARENA, Dominican Republic142 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

Claude PhanorMartin RapillyAdelita RomainWilner RomainClaudia Francesca Santos AverezRonel SeranMiliciades SerraArnoux SéverinJose Luis SociasEnzo di TarantoMayor Nelson UrenaNicasio VinaMPP projectOxfam Artibonite ProjectNational Observatory of Poverty and Social Exclusion, HaitiMinistry of Agriculture, Natural Resourcesand Rural Development, HaitiGeneral Directorate of Border Development (DGDF),Dominican RepublicUNDP Haiti Small Grants ProgrammeMencia village elderMinistry of Agriculture, Natural Resourcesand Rural Development, HaitiGeneral Directorate of Border Development (DGDF),Dominican RepublicOffice of the UN Secretary General, Dominican RepublicGeneral Directorate of Border Development (DGDF),Dominican RepublicCaribbean Biological Corridor, UNEPSocio-Economic Survey TeamPaola Kim-BlancoHilaire BuisserethManouchka CharlescarErnst DavidJean Carls DessinVivener de Verlands EdmondJoseph Graci GraciusMarie Keltelie HilaireMarrio HilasAlexandra MorelJoseph MuhlhausenGemeline RomelusNeecholson RichardKevin TschirhartColumbia University, Earth InstituteHaitian State UniversityHaitian State UniversityHaitian State UniversityHaitian State UniversityHaitian State UniversityHaitian State UniversityHaitian State UniversityHaitian State UniversityColumbia University, Earth InstituteColumbia University, Earth InstituteHaitian State UniversityHaitian State UniversityColumbia University, Earth InstituteTranslatorsSpanishFrenchCabessa TranslationsJohanna DanisHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone143

Cartographic InformationYves BarthelemyOBSCOMWorkshop Participants – Haitian ConsultationsErnst AbrahamSerge BaazebeisDwinel BelizaireEdna Blanc CivilManassé ElusmaPierre André GédéonJames GoetzEtienne HérardAstrel JosephJean Max MilienMartine MathieuFritz NauPatrick NicolasVilherne Petit-FrèreClaude PhanordSeth PierreRonald PlaciusNadine NarcisseGlerenem PampanLudner RemaraisLaméry SamuelMarie France SifrinStarry SprenkleLionel St. JeanMartha SyvertsenJean Andre VictorHaiti Christian Service (SCH)Ministry of EnvironmentMinistry of EnvironmentUNDP, HaitiQuisqueya universityMinistry of EnvironmentGIZUNDP/UNEPMinistry of EnvironmentAct AllianceMinistry of EnvironmentMinistry of Environment of HaitiOxfam QuebecMinistry of Environment of HaitiCooperation SuisseHelvetasMinistry of Foreign AffairsMinistry of EnvironmentMinistry of EnvironmentBureau of Mine and Energy (BME)Ministry of EnvironmentMinistry of EnvironmentChristian AidMinistry of EnvironmentUNDP HaitiL’Association Haïtienne de Droit de l’Environnement (AHDEN)Workshop Participants – Dominican ConsultationsPatricia Abreu FernandezCornelio AcostaClaudia AdamesAna Carolina BerasMinistry of Environment and Natural ResourcesMinistry of Environment and Natural ResourcesMinistry of Environment and Natural ResourcesUNDP, Dominican Republic144 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

José Cristino CastilloRobert CrowleyMarisol DifoTeresa DislaBelkis FernandezGlenys GonzalezRosa LamelasLuc Maille LefrancIsabel MartinezMáximo Peña de LeónManuel SerranoAntonia TapiaRoberto VargasMinistry of Environment and Natural ResourcesOxfamHaiti-Dominican Joint Bilateral CommissionMinistry of Environment and Natural ResourcesMinistry of Environment and Natural ResourcesMinistry of Economy, Planning and DevelopmentGIZUNDPUNEPMinistry of Industry and CommerceMinistry of Environment and Natural ResourcesCenter for Export and Investment (CEI-RD)UNEP / Caribbean Biological CorridorEditorJoel DowlingHaiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone145

146 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone

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