1AITI 2Ountry Environmental ?Rofi!E 4 Field Study by Marko Ehrlich Fred
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-1AITI BY USAID COI\'TRACT 2ountry Environmental Marko Ehrlich USAID - Ehrlich No. ?rofi!e Fred Conway 521-01224-00-4090-00 Nicsias Adrien 4 Field Study Francis LeBeau Cooperative Agreement Lawrence Lewis USAID - IIED NO. Herman Lauwerysen DAN-5517-A-00-2066-00 Ira Lowenthal Yaro Mayda Paul Paryski Glenn Smucker James Talbot Evelyn Wilcox Preface This Country Environmental Prolile (CEP) of Haiti Paul Paryski Wildlands and Wildlife, is one of a series of environmental profiles funded by ISPAN, Port-au-Prince the U.S. Agency for International Development Evelyn Wilcox Marine and Ccastal (USAID), Bureau for Latin America and the Carib- Rewurces, Washington, D.C. bean (LAC), Office of Development Resources (DR), and the USAID Mission to Haiti. The scope of work for this in-country field study was developed jointly ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS by James Talbot, USAID Regional Environmental This CEP was made possible by the contributions Management Specialist (REMSICAR) and Robert of numerous people in addition to ihe core field team. Wilson, Assistant Agricultural Development Officer, Throughout the editing process many individuals re- USAID Mission to Haiti. viewed and contributed significant components to im- prove this study. James Talbot (Geology, Marinel Marko Ehrlich was contracted as the team leader Coastal), Glenn Smucker (Chapter VII), and Ira Lo- and specialists were contracted through the Internatio- wenthal (Chapter VII) deserve special acknowledge- nal Institute for Environment and Development ment because their input was essential in strengthe- (IIED) to prepare sector reports during January 1985. ning specific sections of this report. Within the USAID Marko Ehrlich prepared the first draft of this synthesis Mission to Haiti, Ira Lowenthal, Richard Byess, Abdul and analysis of status of environment and natural re- Wahab and Barry Burnett provided constructive cri- sources in Haiti. James Talbot and Evelyn Wilcox pre- tisme to the Executive Summary. pared the final draft. Special thanks is extended to the numerious Haitian CEP TEAM government officials who have contributed informa- tion and valual-;e data and materials for the prepara- Marko Ehrlich Team Leader, Natural tion of this report, especially M.R. Pierre-Louis, M. Resources, B.P. 557, E. Magny ,M. Severin, M.G. Lafontant of the Ministry Port-au-Prince of Agriculture. M.G. Georges of the Ministry of Mi- Frederick Conway Coordinator for IIED, nes1Energy Resources, M. Pamphile of the Ministry Washington, D.C. of Health, and M. St. Albin and Mme. Pompilus of Nicolas Adrien Engineer, the Ministry of Plan. Representatives of the many in- Maplewood, New Jersey t~tnationalorganisations such as FAO, UNICEF, Francis LeBeau Agriculture, PAHO, UNESCO, BID, FAC and PADF also contri- Crystal springs, Mississippi buted information and data and their contributions Lawrence Lewis Geology and Hydrology, are hereby acknowledged. Clark University, Worcester Massachusetts Finally, this study could not have been made possi- Herman Lauwerysen Socio-cultural Resources, ble without the effort of a cadre of typists during the Bruxelles, Belgium various drafts, including Carole Metayer, Michelle Yaro Mayda Institutions and Legislation, ClCophat, and Sophia St. RCmy. Franz Kalil and Larry University of Puerto Rico, Fahey prepared the maps and figures contained in the San Juan, Puerto Rico report. This Profile Is Dedicated To The Haitian People Nou nan yon ti bouk pa trb lwen Pbtoprens. Bouk TRANSLATION FROM THE CREOLE: sa-a rele Fonrouj. Li gen yon probltm ki gro anpil: We are in a smal! iown not too far from Port-au-Prin- pa gen dlo. Pa gen dlo menm menm. Plant ap mouri, ce. This town is caller! 8ond-Rouge. It has a very big bbt ap mouri. Yon jou se moun ki ka mouri tou. Depi problem: The:c7s no water, none at all. Plants and lontan lontan lapli pa tonbe. Tout bagay stk, tout animals are dying: some day, people will die too. It bagay tris. hasn't rained for a long time. Everything is dry, eve- Pet& se paske yo te koupe tout piebwa yo, men sa rything is sad. ou vle? Yo te bezwen bwa-a pou ft chabon, pou ft Maybe it's because they cut all the trees; but what kay, lantiray, mbb. Epi yo te bezwen tt-a tou pou do you want? They needed the wood to make charcoal, plante mayi, pou plante pwa, pou yo jwenn manje. Si to build homes and fences, to make furniture. And yo pa travay t&-a,yo pap manje. then, they needed the land to plant corn and beans, "M2t Larouzk", Jacques Roumain (1907 - 1944) so they can have food. If they don't work the land, they won't eat. "Mastersof the Dew", Jacques Roumain (1907- 1944). K TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface .....................................................111 Table sf Contents ................................................V List of figures .............................................VIII List of tables ...............................................IX List of acronyms and abbreviations ...................................XI I . EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................... 1 I1 . INTRODUCTION ..............................................13 1 A . Geology and Physiography .....................................13 B . Climate ................................................16 C . Economy 1 Economic Development .................................17 I11 . LAND. WATER. AND FOREST RESOURCES A . Introduction .............................................19 B . The land resource ..........................................19 C . The water resource ..........................................20 Surface water ...........................................20 Ground water ..........................................21 Availability of water for agriculture ...............................22 Irrigation .............................................23 Watersheds ............................................24 Watershed management .....................................26 D . The forest resource .........................................27 Lifezones ............................................28 Trends ..............................................28 Prospects .............................................30 E . Conclusions and recommendations .................................31 1. Initiate land conservation strategies ..............................31 2 . Focus on Cayes Basin region .................................32 3 . Incorporate local participation in land-use projects ....................32 IV . AGRICULTURE A . Introduction .............................................35 B . Agricultural uses of the land .....................................35 C . Climate ................................................39 D . The structure of the agricultural sector ...............................41 . E . Agricultural perspective on land tenure ...............................44 F. Production ..............................................45 Technology and productivity ...................................49 Research .............................................51 Use of agriculture inputs ....................................53 G . Conclusions and recommendations .................................55 V . COASTAL AND MARINE RESOURCES A . Introduction .............................................57 B . Coastal resources ..........................................57 Seagrass beds ...........................................57 Coral reefs ............................................ 57 I Mangroves ............................................60 Coastal waters ..........................................60 C . Summary description of coastal areas ................................61 Fort-Libertt to M61e Saint-Nicolas ...............................61 M61e Saint-Nicolas to Gonai'ves .................................61 Gonaives to Baie de Saint-Marc .................................62 Baie de Saint-Marc to Ile A Cabri ................................62 Ile A Cabri to Leogane ......................................62 Leogane to Jdrtmie .......................................62 Baradares to Les Cayemites ...................................63 JCrkmie to Cap Tiburon .....................................63 Cap Tiburon to Port-Salut ....................................63 Port-Salut to Baie d'Aquin ....................................63 Baie d'Aquin to Anse-A-Pitre ..................................63 La Gonave ............................................63 D . Uses of coastal areas .........................................64 Marine and coastal fisheries ...................................64 I Demersal species .........................................64 Shellfish species .........................................64 Pelagic species ..........................................65 Ornamental reef fish .......................................65 Characteristics of fishing industry ................................65 Mariculture ...........................................-68 Conch cultivation .........................................68 Shrimp farming ..........................................69 Brine shrimp harvesting .....................................69 Oyster culture ..........................................69 Seaweed culture .........................................69 King crab cultr~re......................................... 69 Fresh water fisheries .......................................69 Aquaculture ...........................................70 Exotic species introduction ....................................71 Seaports and coastal trade ....................................71 E . Endangered species and critical habitat ...............................72