Rich Gosser

A few years ago the Florida Sun Sentinel did an in depth story titled "Haiti, the Eroding Country". It highlighted the environmental devastation that Haiti has experienced. The statistics are sobering - even staggering. It is estimated that Haiti is 98% deforested. That deforestation results in the loss of topsoil from Haiti's mostly mountainous lands. Among countries in the world Haiti ranks LAST on the "Environmental Sustainability" index. Flying into Port au Prince the other day I was able to catch a glimpse of the mountains on Haiti's Northern "hand". The scene of environmental devastation - seen in the image below - was unmistakable.

In Fondwa the peasants tell me that 30 or 40 years ago the mountains were covered with trees and they grew coffee. They still grow a little coffee in Fondwa, but the mountains are no longer covered by trees. The Association of Peasants of Fondwa (APF) has worked hard for more than a decade and a half to reverse the continuing loss of forest cover that has put Haiti in a state of environmental catastrophe. APF operates 10 tree nurseries where seedlings are carefully cultivated so that during the rainy season they can be transplanted to the mountainous slopes. Trees like "chadek" (a grapefruit-like fruit), acacia, mahogany, and eucalyptus breathe new life into the eroding mountains. Around the natural springs that dot the Fondwa valley, APF has been planting trees and bamboo. Without this effort the amount of groundwater available from these sources would contiunally decrease. Since 1988 APF has planted more than 500,000 trees. Many more are needed!

Today I visited one of the nurseries operated by APF. Maintaining these nurseries is the job of APF "animators" who work with the 20 or so APF groups from each of the 20 "habitations" (zones) in the Fondwa region. My friend Becky and I joined the animators in transplanting seedlings from the ground where scattered seeds had been sprouted to plastic sacks filled with soil where they could be watered and protected from the sun.

In late April, when the rainy season has begun in earnest, the sacks of seedlings will be carried to waiting slopes all over the valley. On May 1 all the children at the St. Antoine School are given a "holiday" so they can all join in the tree planting!

rich • Jan-Feb 2007 2 comments