Fall 2008 Newsletter — Contents
Fall 2008 Newsletter - PDF file
The Priorities for Hurricane Recovery
In 2008, a powerful string of hurricanes — Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike — brought total devastation to Haiti, especially in its rural communities. Although the impact of hurricanes and tropical storms has been severe in the past, never before has destruction been so expansive and crippling, for these four hurricanes systematically hit every region in the country. The economic situation of the peasantry was already difficult when the recent hurricanes hit the Caribbean.
The degradation of the environment contributed to the damage. Waters gushing from the severely deforested mountains carried mud and debris and flooded the valleys and towns of Haiti. Gonaives, Haiti's fourth largest city, was under two meters of water for several weeks. Reports are still coming in and the assessment is that damage incurred has reached catastrophic proportions.
The flooding from the hurricanes caused hundreds of deaths, and loss of crops, homes, micro-enterprises and animals. The devastation has left the Haitian government overwhelmed. Roads are impassable and many communities remain inaccessible. The country’s agricultural harvest estimated at about $200 million was lost. Crops were flattened by mud, leaving farmers and peasants with no food to sell and no food to eat.
Families in remote areas are seeking shelter in schools and churches, their villages cut off by washed out bridges and roads. A million people remain homeless. At least 800 deaths have been reported, with more expected as the waters recede.
Today 98% of Haiti's forests are gone, leaving no top soils to hold rain. Since it lies in the pathway of tropical storms and hurricanes originating in the Atlantic, Haiti stands vulnerable to the impact of climate change.
The heavy torrents of water, mud and debris which rage from mountains through villages and into cities, stand as a stark reminder of the consequences of Haiti's deforestation.
The loss of life, property and the destruction of infrastructure which characterized the impact of recent hurricanes in Haiti are relatively new phenomena resulting from the country's rapid deforestation. While more frequent and violent hurricanes are affecting the Caribbean basin as a whole, their impact on a treeless Haiti is exponentially more devastating. The issue of food insecurity preceded the havoc wreaked by the hurricanes. In April 2008 protests rocked Haiti, caused by the rising costs of food and the inability of Haitians to afford traditional staples such as rice, corn and beans.
A treeless terrain causes greater incidence of soil erosion, which lowers the productivity of the land, worsens droughts and eventually leads to desertification. Deforestation in this context represents one of the greatest threats to food security.
In Haiti, the health of forests has an impact on the quality of life for women and girls living in rural communities. The combination of poverty, rigid gender roles and the impact of deforestation and climate change severely limit the potential of women and girls.
As in many developing countries, rural women in Haiti are responsible for obtaining food, water and energy for cooking. Deforestation and the impacts of climate change cause women to work harder to secure these resources. Women have less time to get an education, take care of families or earn an income. When the supply of potable water is contaminated by flood waters, young girls must miss school and sacrifice their education in order to walk long distances to fetch clean water. As such, deforestation has a disproportional negative impact on women and girls in Haiti.
In conjunction with economic development projects, a continued focus on reforestation will help with disaster prevention when future hurricanes hit. Trees help reduce the loss of crops, food, livestock, human lives, and households because flood waters are mitigated. Trees help maintain quality water supply since they help absorb flood waters, making them less likely to contaminate potable water systems.
It is clear that the destruction caused by the hurricanes must be addressed. Houses must be rebuilt, communities must be stabilized, and roads and bridges replaced. Haiti, however, cannot address infrastructural issues without confronting the root cause of its problems. Haiti can thrive with sound environmental policies which place reforestation as one of the most pressing priorities.
Environmental policies must offer solutions to eradicate poverty, gender inequity, and food insecurity. The destructive forces which have flattened Haiti's fields and uprooted its trees have given the Haitian government and civil society an unprecedented opportunity to make the restoration of the environment one of the most critical priorities in Haiti's reconstruction. The time to act is now. You and I must support Haiti's efforts to reduce its vulnerability to natural disasters, protect its watersheds and support its farmers in sustainable reforestation.
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