On Environmental Brink, Haiti Scrambles for a Lifeline

By NATHANIAL GRONEWOLD of Greenwire
Published: November 9, 2009

First of a four-part series.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- A hard rain can be deadly here.

A family of four was reported killed late last month when rushing stormwater loosened soil under their hillside house and brought the structure down on them.

The denuded slopes around this city of 2 million turn stormwater into lethal torrents. Trees, shrubs and other vegetation that anchor soil and buffer runoff are rare here. They mark private compounds of the wealthy, islands of green protected by fences and armed guards in a sea of slums that have sprawled up sandy hills as the city's population tripled over the past 20 years.

"They are informal human settlements with very, very weak construction methods," said Stephanie Ziebell, an aid worker with the Mission des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en Haiti, or MINUSTAH, the United Nations' only peacekeeping mission in the Americas. "There's nothing to protect them from water flooding down from the hillside."

Haiti -- the developing world's first and oldest independent nation -- is today a ward of the United Nations, dependent on foreign aid and the $612-million-a-year peacekeeping operation that only recently managed to smother the violence that has long plagued this country.

But it is violence done to the environment that is haunting Haiti now. Degradation of natural resources here is both a consequence and an amplifier of poverty and disorder. The country has become a poster child for environmental neglect, and many fear Haiti is close to total ecological collapse.

Haiti has few and weak environmental laws. Its dense population has just two small national parks where no agency protects resources. Its forests have been overharvested, its marine resources overexploited.

"The environmental degradation has gotten to such a point that there's danger everywhere," said Jean-Cyril Pressoir, a Haitian native and owner of a new tour company here.

But the response to the growing crisis does not involve massive World Bank-financed industrial projects that were common in the past and put wads of cash into the pockets of U.S. or European experts. Instead, money and resources are now being diverted to smaller-scale pilot projects designed mostly by Haitians themselves, with a goal of saving their country and perhaps creating a new development paradigm.

article is huge so click here for the rest: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/11/09/09greenwire-on-environmental-brink-haiti-scrambles-for-a-l-56869.html?pagewanted=1

I'm not trying to sound like a smart ass, but this is recycled news...

Well they need to recycle it...especialy when the Haitian environment is revolting against the Haitian people and at times killing them...if these conditions are not reversed...their will be no Haiti...the environment is extreeeeeemly important...it's not just news...it's life and death...if this problem is not focused on and contained...eventualy...Haitians will be getting on boats not just for economic reasons...but environmental...imagine being an environmental refugee...the population is growing...and the island is getting smaller...this topic doesnt yeild alot of conversation because I think it seems to big to mentaly grasp...but ignore this issue...and soon nothing else will matter...Haitians liveing in Haiti...need to change their ways in relation to the environment and become pro-active in it's preservation...this should be a key issue for all nationalist's...semi-nationalist or if you have a Haitian great great grandfather.

Patati Patata - 10 November 2009 12:50 AM

Well they need to recycle it...especialy when the Haitian environment is revolting against the Haitian people and at times killing them...if these conditions are not reversed...their will be no Haiti...the environment is extreeeeeemly important...it's not just news...it's life and death...if this problem is not focused on and contained...eventualy...Haitians will be getting on boats not just for economic reasons...but environmental...imagine being an environmental refugee...the population is growing...and the island is getting smaller...this topic doesnt yeild alot of conversation because I think it seems to big to mentaly grasp...but ignore this issue...and soon nothing else will matter...Haitians liveing in Haiti...need to change their ways in relation to the environment and become pro-active in it's preservation...this should be a key issue for all nationalist's...semi-nationalist or if you have a Haitian great great grandfather.

the country is literally, quickly slipping into the ocean. once every tree's gone, Haiti will exist no more. the east will definitely put up that wall and i won't blame them.

Ti-Joe Gro Nen - 10 November 2009 06:42 AM

Patati Patata - 10 November 2009 12:50 AM

Well they need to recycle it...especialy when the Haitian environment is revolting against the Haitian people and at times killing them...if these conditions are not reversed...their will be no Haiti...the environment is extreeeeeemly important...it's not just news...it's life and death...if this problem is not focused on and contained...eventualy...Haitians will be getting on boats not just for economic reasons...but environmental...imagine being an environmental refugee...the population is growing...and the island is getting smaller...this topic doesnt yeild alot of conversation because I think it seems to big to mentaly grasp...but ignore this issue...and soon nothing else will matter...Haitians liveing in Haiti...need to change their ways in relation to the environment and become pro-active in it's preservation...this should be a key issue for all nationalist's...semi-nationalist or if you have a Haitian great great grandfather.

the country is literally, quickly slipping into the ocean. once every tree's gone, Haiti will exist no more. the east will definitely put up that wall and i won't blame them.

Nothing new here.

And why do you suppose the trees are disappearing? Chabon!

And why do the Haitians need to chop down trees to make chabon? Survival!

And why is chabon needed for survival? Fuel!

And why is chabon the main source of fuel? No infrastructure!

And why no infrastructure? Because the Diaspora remains "mute" to the issue.

gunner - 10 November 2009 02:38 PM

Ti-Joe Gro Nen - 10 November 2009 06:42 AM

Patati Patata - 10 November 2009 12:50 AM

Well they need to recycle it...especialy when the Haitian environment is revolting against the Haitian people and at times killing them...if these conditions are not reversed...their will be no Haiti...the environment is extreeeeeemly important...it's not just news...it's life and death...if this problem is not focused on and contained...eventualy...Haitians will be getting on boats not just for economic reasons...but environmental...imagine being an environmental refugee...the population is growing...and the island is getting smaller...this topic doesnt yeild alot of conversation because I think it seems to big to mentaly grasp...but ignore this issue...and soon nothing else will matter...Haitians liveing in Haiti...need to change their ways in relation to the environment and become pro-active in it's preservation...this should be a key issue for all nationalist's...semi-nationalist or if you have a Haitian great great grandfather.

the country is literally, quickly slipping into the ocean. once every tree's gone, Haiti will exist no more. the east will definitely put up that wall and i won't blame them.

Nothing new here.

And why do you suppose the trees are disappearing? Chabon!

And why do the Haitians need to chop down trees to make chabon? Survival!

And why is chabon needed for survival? Fuel!

And why is chabon the main source of fuel? No infrastructure!

And why no infrastructure? Because the Diaspora remains "mute" to the issue.

Gunner I don't know where you got your education, shouldn't the haitians in haiti be more concerned about the environment than the Diaspora. The diaspora lives in countries with infrastructure, and are not allowed to even have dual citizenship. I believe that haitians in haiti should respect their environment and protect it, because they are the ones that are largely affected when the hurricanes come in.

Using Chabon isn't the root of the problem, it is the haitian government's inability to enforce rules and look for the betterment of Haiti's future. They should provide subsidies to propane like DR, or for the most part, should have rangers who would be responsible for protecting the environment. Have the people who make the Chabon, plant a tree for each tree that they cut down at least. Haitians in haiti outweighs the diaspora, they are making chabon, they are destroying the environment, and littering the streets. Once haitians in haiti start acknowledging that they are the root of their own problems, then there will be a change of how things work.

gunner - 10 November 2009 02:38 PM

Ti-Joe Gro Nen - 10 November 2009 06:42 AM

Patati Patata - 10 November 2009 12:50 AM

Well they need to recycle it...especialy when the Haitian environment is revolting against the Haitian people and at times killing them...if these conditions are not reversed...their will be no Haiti...the environment is extreeeeeemly important...it's not just news...it's life and death...if this problem is not focused on and contained...eventualy...Haitians will be getting on boats not just for economic reasons...but environmental...imagine being an environmental refugee...the population is growing...and the island is getting smaller...this topic doesnt yeild alot of conversation because I think it seems to big to mentaly grasp...but ignore this issue...and soon nothing else will matter...Haitians liveing in Haiti...need to change their ways in relation to the environment and become pro-active in it's preservation...this should be a key issue for all nationalist's...semi-nationalist or if you have a Haitian great great grandfather.

the country is literally, quickly slipping into the ocean. once every tree's gone, Haiti will exist no more. the east will definitely put up that wall and i won't blame them.

Nothing new here.

And why do you suppose the trees are disappearing? Chabon!

And why do the Haitians need to chop down trees to make chabon? Survival!

And why is chabon needed for survival? Fuel!

And why is chabon the main source of fuel? No infrastructure!

And why no infrastructure? Because the Diaspora remains "mute" to the issue.

It's not so easy to fix Gunner! It took decades for the DR to have most rural people stop using chabon for their cooking! To introduce an option like natural gas or propane like in the DR, it takes a lot of money Haiti is not producing internally today. The first thing is to provide a viable alternative they could even grow in their backyards or make use indefinitely like solar powered induction hot plates.

Problem again is that most if not all of the financial sources in position to assist Haiti today, are not presented with a long term plan from any Haitian administration to make the alternative happen and pay off down the line. The DR got loans, long term soft loans back in the 70's and early 80's to provide these chabon cooking families, with modern ranges and gas deliveries at home or close to them, still with lower prices than they commanded in the market. It was planned so that within the ten year interval, the price cap on gas was reduced in stages into a small fraction of the cost to sell the gas locally, yet still profit driven enough to start repaying the principal loans from the program within the next 5 years at that time.

In other words you create a demand market sure to cover and leave room for profits down the line, while recovering the initial investments just by the gross volume of that demand market created. In remote towns of the country, they invested into educating farmers and kids into how to employ certain trees easy to replace when using it for cooking. They demonstrated how to make saplings for the new trees that needed to replace the batch cut down, which gave fuel for the home kitchen.

The key is to show a plan that demonstrate a solution down the line and also secures the repayment of the funds with ample support within it. The DR recently is getting loans approved by the billions from different sources of financial institutions, but that money was only approved after it presented a viable plan that showed how it was going to be invested and expected repayment down the line. Those funds are not gifts or donations; they're called loans for a good reason!

Haiti can stop and reverse lots of problems afflicting the nation today, but it needs to come up with a viable plan that shows there's a way to achieve that goal and repay the loans as well.

RPichardo - 10 November 2009 03:10 PM

gunner - 10 November 2009 02:38 PM

Ti-Joe Gro Nen - 10 November 2009 06:42 AM

Patati Patata - 10 November 2009 12:50 AM

Well they need to recycle it...especialy when the Haitian environment is revolting against the Haitian people and at times killing them...if these conditions are not reversed...their will be no Haiti...the environment is extreeeeeemly important...it's not just news...it's life and death...if this problem is not focused on and contained...eventualy...Haitians will be getting on boats not just for economic reasons...but environmental...imagine being an environmental refugee...the population is growing...and the island is getting smaller...this topic doesnt yeild alot of conversation because I think it seems to big to mentaly grasp...but ignore this issue...and soon nothing else will matter...Haitians liveing in Haiti...need to change their ways in relation to the environment and become pro-active in it's preservation...this should be a key issue for all nationalist's...semi-nationalist or if you have a Haitian great great grandfather.

the country is literally, quickly slipping into the ocean. once every tree's gone, Haiti will exist no more. the east will definitely put up that wall and i won't blame them.

Nothing new here.

And why do you suppose the trees are disappearing? Chabon!

And why do the Haitians need to chop down trees to make chabon? Survival!

And why is chabon needed for survival? Fuel!

And why is chabon the main source of fuel? No infrastructure!

And why no infrastructure? Because the Diaspora remains "mute" to the issue.

It's not so easy to fix Gunner! It took decades for the DR to have most rural people stop using chabon for their cooking! To introduce an option like natural gas or propane like in the DR, it takes a lot of money Haiti is not producing internally today. The first thing is to provide a viable alternative they could even grow in their backyards or make use indefinitely like solar powered induction hot plates.

Problem again is that most if not all of the financial sources in position to assist Haiti today, are not presented with a long term plan from any Haitian administration to make the alternative happen and pay off down the line. The DR got loans, long term soft loans back in the 70's and early 80's to provide these chabon cooking families, with modern ranges and gas deliveries at home or close to them, still with lower prices than they commanded in the market. It was planned so that within the ten year interval, the price cap on gas was reduced in stages into a small fraction of the cost to sell the gas locally, yet still profit driven enough to start repaying the principal loans from the program within the next 5 years at that time.

In other words you create a demand market sure to cover and leave room for profits down the line, while recovering the initial investments just by the gross volume of that demand market created. In remote towns of the country, they invested into educating farmers and kids into how to employ certain trees easy to replace when using it for cooking. They demonstrated how to make saplings for the new trees that needed to replace the batch cut down, which gave fuel for the home kitchen.

The key is to show a plan that demonstrate a solution down the line and also secures the repayment of the funds with ample support within it. The DR recently is getting loans approved by the billions from different sources of financial institutions, but that money was only approved after it presented a viable plan that showed how it was going to be invested and expected repayment down the line. Those funds are not gifts or donations; they're called loans for a good reason!

Haiti can stop and reverse lots of problems afflicting the nation today, but it needs to come up with a viable plan that shows there's a way to achieve that goal and repay the loans as well.

I agree. There is no plan from the government. They're too busy playing games. Although there are some private companies coming with solutions, the gov't must make this a priority.

BENZ - 10 November 2009 03:54 PM

RPichardo - 10 November 2009 03:10 PM

gunner - 10 November 2009 02:38 PM

Ti-Joe Gro Nen - 10 November 2009 06:42 AM

Patati Patata - 10 November 2009 12:50 AM

Well they need to recycle it...especialy when the Haitian environment is revolting against the Haitian people and at times killing them...if these conditions are not reversed...their will be no Haiti...the environment is extreeeeeemly important...it's not just news...it's life and death...if this problem is not focused on and contained...eventualy...Haitians will be getting on boats not just for economic reasons...but environmental...imagine being an environmental refugee...the population is growing...and the island is getting smaller...this topic doesnt yeild alot of conversation because I think it seems to big to mentaly grasp...but ignore this issue...and soon nothing else will matter...Haitians liveing in Haiti...need to change their ways in relation to the environment and become pro-active in it's preservation...this should be a key issue for all nationalist's...semi-nationalist or if you have a Haitian great great grandfather.

the country is literally, quickly slipping into the ocean. once every tree's gone, Haiti will exist no more. the east will definitely put up that wall and i won't blame them.

Nothing new here.

And why do you suppose the trees are disappearing? Chabon!

And why do the Haitians need to chop down trees to make chabon? Survival!

And why is chabon needed for survival? Fuel!

And why is chabon the main source of fuel? No infrastructure!

And why no infrastructure? Because the Diaspora remains "mute" to the issue.

It's not so easy to fix Gunner! It took decades for the DR to have most rural people stop using chabon for their cooking! To introduce an option like natural gas or propane like in the DR, it takes a lot of money Haiti is not producing internally today. The first thing is to provide a viable alternative they could even grow in their backyards or make use indefinitely like solar powered induction hot plates.

Problem again is that most if not all of the financial sources in position to assist Haiti today, are not presented with a long term plan from any Haitian administration to make the alternative happen and pay off down the line. The DR got loans, long term soft loans back in the 70's and early 80's to provide these chabon cooking families, with modern ranges and gas deliveries at home or close to them, still with lower prices than they commanded in the market. It was planned so that within the ten year interval, the price cap on gas was reduced in stages into a small fraction of the cost to sell the gas locally, yet still profit driven enough to start repaying the principal loans from the program within the next 5 years at that time.

In other words you create a demand market sure to cover and leave room for profits down the line, while recovering the initial investments just by the gross volume of that demand market created. In remote towns of the country, they invested into educating farmers and kids into how to employ certain trees easy to replace when using it for cooking. They demonstrated how to make saplings for the new trees that needed to replace the batch cut down, which gave fuel for the home kitchen.

The key is to show a plan that demonstrate a solution down the line and also secures the repayment of the funds with ample support within it. The DR recently is getting loans approved by the billions from different sources of financial institutions, but that money was only approved after it presented a viable plan that showed how it was going to be invested and expected repayment down the line. Those funds are not gifts or donations; they're called loans for a good reason!

Haiti can stop and reverse lots of problems afflicting the nation today, but it needs to come up with a viable plan that shows there's a way to achieve that goal and repay the loans as well.

I agree. There is no plan from the government. They're too busy playing games. Although there are some private companies coming with solutions, the gov't must make this a priority.

A great idea, but you miss the core issue.

Haiti is full of grandiose plans. Thousands of them. Do you recall the photo of Madame P-L at her desk and buried in "plans" that were stacked to the ceiling and piled on her desk? Tens of millions of dollars those plans cost Haiti and here we are; using chabon to survive!

The Haitian Government is NOT in control of Haiti. They're left with the scraps (15%) after the NGO's take their piece of the pie. The Diaspora is responsible because the control of Haiti resides in their backyard and not in Haiti.

They refuse to even acknowledge it, and this has been a point of contention with myself as the sole proponent of turning back the NGO's so that Haiti can have access to the IMF, IDB, WB, etc funding directly. Until this occurs, there will not be enough money available to fund such propane stoves.

How many others on this forum, or any other, is out-raged by the theft of Haitian monetary resources by Boston and NYC based NGO's? Nobody. Instead, they support the NGO's against the Haitain Gov't.

Until this paradigm is changed, the trees must FALL!

You cannot enforce "environmental issues" when people need that "environment" to survive!

I'll let a thousand trees (everyone of them) die if that means Haitians have fuel to cook their food. There is NO alternative until the paradigm is changed.

It is the height of hypocrisy to hear the Diaspora all up in arms over the destruction of Haitian forests and not a peep out of them relative to infrastructure.

This isn't "rocket science", this is a simple formula of chabon = fuel=food=survival.

Darned!!! You shook me more than my extra loaded coffee cup in the morning!!!

Haiti can do away with most NGOs working in Haiti today, by simply doing what we did in the DR: Require them to post their balance sheets on local media once a year!
We did with NGOs the same we do with all Banks in the DR!

Guess what? The first year over 40% of registered NGOs in the country didn't renew their TAX ID and Control numbers!!! They folded the tent and left as sublet as they came...

As far as getting the loans directly via the IMF and WDB as well as other sources, Haiti needs to have a real long term plan to secure the loans. Like I said, these are not grants or freebies to mete out and expect only a big smile back. They want to see ROI expectations based on a workable formula, which reflect on the realities of Haiti's internal economy.

Haiti can formulate a master plan to the IMF of WDB, where they fund the gas ranges and supply long term, while taking over the internal tax collection on a VAT premise. Like I said before, Haiti lacks a robust tax revenues collection system that works. By allowing the source or the loans to name a principal operator/collector at manufacture/import/entry point of tax collections, Haiti can be able to have access to funds in a mere months after the implementation of that system.

It's not a secret that Haiti's gov lacks financial responsibility, by naming and placing the VAT collections on a third loan sourced principal, Haiti can invest into what it needs to fix a long time problem with an equal long time solution in stages.

Will it work? Well it did for us in the DR!!! We introduced the ITBIS as a VAT to repay the IMF and others debts to third parties, by adopting such plan. No only that! But after the VAT fulfilled its role, the ITBIS was left in place for other financial debts as well!

These are proven formulas that worked for a country which scarcely 60 years ago was mirror image of Haiti. The results are hard to argue with!

Patati Patata - 10 November 2009 12:50 AM

Well they need to recycle it...especialy when the Haitian environment is revolting against the Haitian people and at times killing them...if these conditions are not reversed...their will be no Haiti...the environment is extreeeeeemly important...it's not just news...it's life and death...if this problem is not focused on and contained...eventualy...Haitians will be getting on boats not just for economic reasons...but environmental...imagine being an environmental refugee...the population is growing...and the island is getting smaller...this topic doesnt yeild alot of conversation because I think it seems to big to mentaly grasp...but ignore this issue...and soon nothing else will matter...Haitians liveing in Haiti...need to change their ways in relation to the environment and become pro-active in it's preservation...this should be a key issue for all nationalist's...semi-nationalist or if you have a Haitian great great grandfather.

Environmental refugee???...damn, what a horror awaiting Haiti...

kathy - 11 November 2009 12:53 AM

Patati Patata - 10 November 2009 12:50 AM

Well they need to recycle it...especialy when the Haitian environment is revolting against the Haitian people and at times killing them...if these conditions are not reversed...their will be no Haiti...the environment is extreeeeeemly important...it's not just news...it's life and death...if this problem is not focused on and contained...eventualy...Haitians will be getting on boats not just for economic reasons...but environmental...imagine being an environmental refugee...the population is growing...and the island is getting smaller...this topic doesnt yeild alot of conversation because I think it seems to big to mentaly grasp...but ignore this issue...and soon nothing else will matter...Haitians liveing in Haiti...need to change their ways in relation to the environment and become pro-active in it's preservation...this should be a key issue for all nationalist's...semi-nationalist or if you have a Haitian great great grandfather.

Environmental refugee???...damn, what a horror awaiting Haiti...

Indeed! And what is to be done?