A lush mountain called Macaya Peak looms tall on the southern peninsula of Haiti, an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. The area is both a critical source of water and a hotspot for biodiversity since it retains the country’s last stand of a virgin cloud forest. The mountain also houses the only remaining population of the tiny Macaya breast-spot frog, one of Haiti’s many unique species facing extinction.
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, nearly 12 species of birds, 28 species of plants, 46 species of amphibians, 15 species of fish, and some 10 species of reptiles and mammals are in danger of extinction in Haiti. The main reason is deforestation as people scrounge for resources.
“Haiti’s forests support an incredible array of biodiversity,” says Leo Heileman, director of the Latin America and the Caribbean Office with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “Maintaining and improving these areas not only increases the resilience of the forest ecosystem and its ability to adapt to a changing climate but also improves the resilience and wellbeing of the communities that rely on it for food, livelihoods and other ecosystem services.”
To preserve the country’s biodiversity hotspots, the Government of Haiti began establishing protected areas across the country in 1968. These 26 areas today represent nearly 7 per cent of the country’s land and 1.5 per cent of its waters, half of which were created with the technical assistance of UNEP. The country also joined Cuba and the Dominican Republic as part of the Caribbean Biological Corridor initiative, which strives for ecosystem connectivity across countries.
Even so, more help is needed within Haiti’s borders. Haiti’s struggles with poverty are compounded by natural disasters that slow down environmental and economic recovery. Community efforts are under way, with assistance from UNEP, to turn the tide on environmental destruction and support the welfare of locals. At the request of the Haitian Ministry of Environment, UNEP focuses on Haiti’s southern region, known as the Grand Sud, which includes Macaya Peak, the beaches of Port Salut and Ile-à-Vache, and the mangroves of La Cahouane.
Haiti’s forests support an incredible array of biodiversity.
Back to nature
UNEP’s work comes on the eve of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a 10-year push to revive the natural world that launches on 5 June 2021, World Environment Day. Nearly 75 per cent of the Earth’s surface has been altered by human activity and the UN Decade is designed to restore millions of hectares of land and sea lost to development.
The Cahouane mangroves are a prime example of humanity’s impact on the environment; they have been overexploited and degraded for decades. Mangrove ecosystems are vital for stabilizing the coastline and maintaining the biological diversity of coastal areas. Not only are they spawning grounds for fish, they store large amounts of carbon, thereby helping to mitigate the climate crisis. Mangroves also produce nectar and pollen, the source of mangrove honey, which is light, sweet and rich in vitamins.
To reduce the overexploitation, UNEP three years ago supported a push to preserve and restore mangroves and to create livelihoods in agroforestry, beekeeping, cashew processing, aquaculture and sustainable fishing. In total, 141 hectares of reforestation have been undertaken in areas exposed to coastal hazards and flooding. Over 170 kilometers of riverbanks have been reforested with bamboo to prevent soil erosion and more than 2,600 acres of watershed have been covered with, among other things, seedlings and fruit plants.
“These interventions confirmed the capacity of local communities to mobilize and implement solutions that combine livelihood development, resilience and environmental protection and restoration,” says Fabien Monteils, UNEP Representative in Haiti. “We now aim at switching gears and scaling up practices at the landscape level through cross-sector integration, leveraging and aligning external aid, empowering communities through improved governance models and building robust information systems and innovative finance solutions.”
Dollars and cents
One innovative financing approach is the Haitian Fund for Biodiversity, created in 2019 with the support of UNEP. This mechanism facilitates access to financial resources for local organizations focused on conservation. This fund provides a new opportunity for Haiti to participate in the conservation of biodiversity and marks a turning point in the protection of the environment at a time when thousands of species are threatened across the planet, say observers.
“The Haitian Fund for Biodiversity is a clear achievement, but more is needed,” says Monteils. “We see solutions emerging, we see communities stepping up. The path is narrow, but there is a way for Haitians to escape from poverty and intensifying climate disasters by partnering with their environment.”
The United Nations General Assembly has declared the years 2021 through 2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Decade is designed to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. The UN Decade will draw together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to scale up restoration with the goal of reviving millions of hectares of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Visit http://www.decadeonrestoration.org to learn more.
