Even before Hurricane Jeanne hit Haiti in September, killing over 2,000 people in flooding, donors were working to aid the poorest country in the western hemisphere. In June, multilateral banks, governments and the UN pledged $1.085 billion over the next two years to help Haiti recover from flood damage in April. Part of those funds have been earmarked for reforestation to reduce damage from future natural disasters.
The flooding highlighted the importance of reforestation for the impoverished country and demonstrates how poverty and political instability add to the damage from natural disasters. The hurricane's force took the heaviest toll in Gonaives, the third largest city located next to the ocean, where flooding swept away scores of victims. The community had been allowed to settle on a floodplain by the government decades ago, but was put in harm's way by its unfortunate location. The hurricane also wreaked havoc on the Northwest Province, the poorest region of Haiti.
The hurricane damage has been aggravated by the lack of trees on the island. "The astonishing level of destruction is a direct consequence of the over-exploitation of trees for charcoal and of rock quarries for construction," said Brazilian Finance Minister Antonio Palocci, who was representing Haiti and eight other nations at the Development Committee meeting on Saturday.
The level of storm devastation calls for wide-ranging assistance to Haiti beyond emergency aid, so that future disasters can be mitigated. "Haiti needs strong and sustained support from the international community if it is to begin to address its almost total deforestation and the depletion of its environmental capital," Palocci said. Planning for reconstruction and flood prevention will require creating a much stronger economy to allow Haitians, who earn on average $315 a year, to make a viable living.
"The longer term answer is there has to be economic development, you can't keep planting trees on the hills when people are too poor and have to keep staying on the hillsides," where they raise goats or plant crops, says Andy White, senior director in policy market analysis with Forest Trends, a Washington NGO that advocates forest conservation.