Haiti – Dominican Republic - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

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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
Page 1: Haiti - Dominican RepublicEnvironme
Page 7 and 8: We congratulate all those who contr
Page 9: countries. These issues include the
Page 13: The differing levels of tree cover
Page 16 and 17: A member of the assessment team col
Page 18 and 19: Members of the assessment team inte
Page 20 and 21: Consultation workshops were held in
Page 22 and 23: Table 1. Key facts and statistics f
Page 24 and 25: wandering over depleted fields and
Page 26 and 27: ClimateThe different parts of Hispa
Page 28 and 29: Natural river flow variability due
Page 30 and 31: EarthquakesHispaniola is located on
Page 32: consumption and production culture
Page 36 and 37: Map 6. The northern coast and the M
Page 39 and 40: Map 8. The area surrounding the lak
Page 41 and 42: although it is estimated to be much
Page 43 and 44: Figure 3. Seasonality of food insec
Page 45 and 46: e sold for a profit on the other si
Page 47 and 48: viCase study 2. Comité Intermunici
Page 49: Part 2 Identification andAnalysis o
Page 53: Lacking productive topsoil this lan
Page 56 and 57: 5 Forest resources andterrestrial p
Page 58 and 59: Satellite image 3. In the Massacre
Page 60 and 61: un the risk of being either impriso
Page 62 and 63: eing transported from the Dominican
Page 64 and 65: 5.5 Collection of fuel woodFuel woo
Page 66 and 67: !^5.6 Protected area management and
Page 68 and 69: locations is contrasted with a degr
Page 70 and 71: Enough is known, however, to be cer
Page 72 and 73: plantations that the habitat will n
Page 74 and 75: Satellite image 6. Just before reac
Page 76 and 77: interventions if well designed do w
Page 78 and 79: contaminated rivers are disease vec
Page 80 and 81: crust substantial enough to be the
Page 82 and 83: 7 Coastal and marineresources7.1 In
Page 84 and 85: tuna, sea bream, yellowtail, hake,
Page 86 and 87: Mangroves are being cut to be sold
Page 88 and 89: Case study 6. Cooperation between f
Page 90 and 91: private sector better informed. Cus
Page 92 and 93: carrying money, and missing their d
Page 94 and 95: etween these two cordilleras), but
Page 96: Mineral exploration is starting in
Page 99 and 100: assessment team are all small scale
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Extreme poverty is a key driving fo
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it is present. The Haitian populati
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Atlantic storms will double in the
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A charcoal kiln burning inside the
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Table 5. Summary of the key recomme
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Ten recommendations are provided un
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oth environmentally damaging and li
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Improving cooperation and governanc
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f. Create and formalize fishing agr
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g. In the long term, aim for variou
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Haiti - Dominican Republic: Environ
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Annex I - Report terminologyArgumen
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Annex II - List of Acronyms and Abb
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Annex IV - Table connecting thereco
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23. United States Census Bureau. (2
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73. UN Development Programme - Haï
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117. Urban Design Lab, Columbia Uni
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161. Miniel, L. (2012, 20 April). I
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204. Peralta, C. (2012, 18 April).
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246. González Sánchez, F.F. (2012
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290. Laboratoire des Relations Hait
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Annex VI - AcknowledgementsContribu
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Claude PhanorMartin RapillyAdelita
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José Cristino CastilloRobert Crowl
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