Assessing Ecosystems and Needs in Haiti

Haiti is part of the Caribbean Islands biodiversity hotspot where CEPF began investing in June 2010. Recently, Pierre Carret, technical advisor to CEPF, and BirdLife International consultant Joel Timyan travelled to Haiti to conduct a needs assessment on two critical key biodiversity areas (KBAs) --Massif de la Hotte in southwest Haiti and Massif de la Selle in southern Haiti.

Massif de la Hotte, at 129,000 hectares, covers three priority watersheds that serve the cities of Les Cayes, Port Salut, Tiburon and Jeremie. These cities typically suffer the greatest loss of life due to flooding and landslides resulting from hurricanes and tropical storms, in part due to the degradation of the upper watershed. The site also harbors the highest number of Alliance for Zero Extinction species in the world with 13 Critically Endangered species that are found nowhere else.

Massif de la Selle, 167,000 hectares, is only 22 kilometers from Port-au-Prince and is a major source of water to the inhabitants of the city. It is also home to the only known populations of several globally threatened species.

Carret's findings will help to determine how to spend $130,000 remaining in emergency funding approved by CEPF's Donor Council after the devastating January 2010 earthquake to support these areas and the vital services they provide to Haitians. CEPF has already awarded $251,354 to BirdLife International to strengthen a local network of 12 environmental nongovernmental organizations, known as Rézo-Ekolo, as well as to integrate biodiversity conservation into reconstruction and development planning. The findings will also help direct any future funding coming from CEPF's investment in the hotspot.

Summary of key findings

High endemic and overall biodiversity occurs disproportionately in the two areas of Massif de la Selle and Massif de la Hotte. This biodiversity is under serious threat from burgeoning and encroaching unsustainable agricultural practices, which have already led to noticeable declines in endemic bird and amphibian populations.

Although both of these national parks have experienced significant degradation, there still remain areas of forest that harbor and have the potential to maintain breeding populations of threatened species. Haitian nature authorities are working to protect these areas, but are experiencing significant challenges from an uncertain political atmosphere and a struggling economy. Because of the presence of sufficient remaining habitat and species, there is solid justification for action to protect these forests and the services they provide.

Carret reports, "The Haitian KBAs are certainly among the natural areas in the world that most qualify for the term Critical Ecosystems."

Massif de la Selle (La Visite National Park)

La Visite National Park in the KBA Massif de la Selle harbors a rather young pine forest that protects the karst plateau which contains and purifies the water valued by the areas downstream. It also has a surprisingly pristine broadleaf forest (called rak-bwa in Creole) that houses a wide array of biodiversity, particularly plants, amphibians and birds. These forests have been largely untouched due to the challenges of their topography, but in the area of Berac located at the southern end of La Visite, what remains of its broadleaf forest has been and continues to be under multiple threats, leading it to suffer irreparable loss.

Massif de la Hotte (Macaya National Park)

The Macaya National Park area is believed to host as many as 120+ endemic species of plants and about 26 species of frogs (33 species total exist in Massif de la Hotte of which 29 are endemic). The park has been better preserved than La Visite due to its inaccessibility by road and more challenging topography. It is primarily composed of old pine forest but also has some patches of broadleaf forest. Macaya plays an extremely important role in preventing natural disasters and erosion, as well as protecting valuable water resources.

The threats that the area faces include significant population growth, unsustainable agricultural practices, charcoal production, timber and bwa-gra (small pieces of resin wood used to light charcoal) production mostly based on pines. The lack of specifications and boundary demarcation for national parks and lack of land tenure documentation also hamper protection of these areas.

Recommendations

In light of the many threats present in the Haitian KBAs and the overall observations and assessments made by Carret and Timyan, CEPF will look into investing in projects that work on payments for ecosystem services, improved heating/cooking technologies, community conservation strategies, and targeted tree planting/ slope stabilization, taking into consideration the following recommendations.

It is recommended that this initial investment as well as future CEPF investment:

1. balance biodiversity conservation with socioeconomic development;
   
   
2. strengthen or expand activities already being implemented by conservation organizations in the KBAs;
   
   
3. result in visible, measurable conservation indices such as natural vegetation cover, water quality, habitat quality or slope stabilization;
   
   
4. build the capacity of local conservation organizations to perform their role as advocate and partner with the government of Haiti relating to biodiversity conservation issues;
   
   
5. improve the local partners' technical and administrative project management capacities (learning-by-implementing approach);
   
   
6. support the long-term financial and management sustainability of conservation organizations in Haiti, and
   
   
7. take into consideration and be synergetic with i) other donor activities, ii) the support to Rezo-Ekolo component and iii) the overall CEPF-Caribbean Islands program (in particular, the fact that the CEPF regional implementation team and national coordinator are now in place).