There is a conflict between Haitians, Dominicans, and the environment. Haitians are reportedly crossing the Dominican border, cutting down trees, and making charcoal. Charcoal is a big market in Haiti, but the Haitians may not be considering the legal and environmental repercussions of their actions. The president of the Foundation of Wildlife Without Borders filed a complaint concerning this illegal deforestation and is urging the environmental protection services to take action against this crime and to protect the charcoal traffic from destroying ecosystems. Studies done by independent organizations show that about 86% of charcoal produced in Haiti is made from these illegally cut trees and that Haiti produces the equivalent of 362,000 bags of illegal charcoal annually.
There are serious environmental and legal issues with this problem. If Haitians are in the market of charcoal, they need to produce ways of doing so without these issues. One example could be growing and cutting their own trees for the product. Another, probably more realistic, solution would be to come up with a way to purchase land in other areas and use that land for their charcoal production. There needs to be a measure of protection for certain areas of the forest for environmental reasons. First, trees are a very important part of the earth's ecosystem and without protection, they could disappear in the Dominican areas and cause environmental devastation. Second, there are many species of wildlife that depend on the trees that are being illegally cut, and it is necessary to protect the trees in order to protect these animals and other plants.
http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13115-haiti-environment-haitians-deforest-illegally-the-dominican-border-area.html
2/6/2015 11:43 am
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