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This story from today's DR`1 highlights a pressing and growing issue --- that most of Haiti still uses charcoal for cooking, that Haiti has run out of trees, that there is a pressing market for more charcoal,
and so,,,,,....
What to do?
Bahoruco hard hit by arsonists
The Bahoruco Mountain Range National Park is under attack by Haitians and Dominicans who are stripping the mountains of their trees to make charcoal for the markets in Haiti.
The Forum on Protected Areas is complaining that these virgin forests are being invaded by people, who when caught by the authorities accuse park rangers of accepting RD$3,000 and RD$5,000 every two weeks in return for allowing them to cut down trees in the forest.
The park only has a few rangers and they are paid very low salaries. They do not have the equipment needed to patrol the 1,000 square kilometers of forested area. To top things off, three of the main ranger cabins have been abandoned for months, according to Hoy newspaper. The only functioning guardhouse is the one at Loma del Toro located beneath an observation tower in El Codo.
Some of the slash and burn is going on near the Mulito River, one of the main tributaries of the Pedernales River, and a key area for ecological studies and ecotourism expeditions. Local sources report that the one-time "panoramic" roadway to Aceitillar, which goes from Cabo Rojo to the middle of the park, is a disaster and allows the charcoal burners to "window shop" for places to invade. The Forum says that if things continue at the present rate, the future looks very grim for our protected areas.
Yes, I read that yesterday mountainannie and am VERY disturbed about this.
What the East border of this country is going to face soon is a horrible aftermath that won't be repairable for many years to come.
It's unfortunately the sad, same ol' story....bribes, curruption, injustice.
Wanted to share this photo of wood getting ready to be burned to make charcoal:
There were several in this location, near Laguna Rincon (aka Laguna de Cabral) in the southwest. They belonged to local Dominicans, not Haitians. People in nearby communities complain about deforestation around the lake, and claim that there used to be many trees, but nothing has ever been done about it by authorities.
As you can see, it's not like you have to put up a big operation to do this and take up a vast area. So in the case of the forests of Bahoruco and the border, you can see how they can easily sneak in here and there in isolated areas to burn a few piles worth of charcoal.
Deforestation to make charcoal is not a new problem here or anywhere else in the world. And for a while now, one of the solutions that has been used to approach the problem is to combine the use of more fuel-efficient biomass cooking stoves and education about the environmental consequences.
People use charcoal here in the DR and Haiti because it is cheaper (in the short term) than getting a gas tank and buying the gas. Even people who HAVE a tank with gas cook with charcoal on a fogon (3 rocks or metal objects, like an open fire) or with an anafe (a small charcoal stove made usually from a hubcab or large pieces of molded tin) to prepare their rice and beans. Cooking them on the stove uses up "too much" gas.
Here in the DR, the nicest and most preferred of these types of stoves is an updated/improved model of the lorena, that sits as high as a stove, is made from cement blocks, and carries the smoke through a chimney away from the house (healthier for the family).
I've never had anything to do with making these stoves, but if someone/some organization is interested in building them as a project, PM me and I will track down the info for you, such as design, local costs, educational supplements, etc.
While I do recognize that there are immigration implications with this, I hope that it doesn't turn into a way to stir up anti-immigration sentiments against Haitians. There are plenty of Dominicans who do the same, and more to encourage deforestation, such as continue to make and transport illegal furniture from caoba wood, in their own country. Let's keep it an environmental, health and poverty related issue and not one of immigration...
I have a finca in the mountains above Barahona and last time I was there we surprised some Haitiians cutting down our fruit trees to make charcoal. It really is a big problem. Previously we were looking to buy land in la Guasara again near Barahona and 50% of the land had been burned to plant guandules. It was just destroyed. The government really needs to do something about this to stop the total destruction of the loma above Barahona. having said that as I sit here in the woods in Juan Dolio I can smell that they have started another charcoal bonfire - the woods here are 50% decimated due to charcoal factories.
Can anyone provide an update on the Dominican-Haitian reconciliation team's efforts? Is this an issue that is being addressed in that forum, and if so, what efforts have been made in this regard? Last question: is there a vehicle that those concerned with this issue can use to assist in helping to resolve the problem of deforestation, particularly on the border, and encroachment into DR territory?
The one NGO (non governmental organization) that has been working on both sides of the border along the entire length is the Pan American Development Foundation, which is affiliated with the OAS.
I must say that the border region is fairly neglected by both countries, which is sad since to my mind it is one of the most beautiful regions.
It would help if anyone here in the DR has contacts with large nurseries or growers,,, I have two Haitians who are looking for seeds... one for jalapeno peppers for an export business and another for African palms. (This was after my comments on a Haiti listserve on the fact that the UN was looking all over the hemisphere for seeds for Haiti and was optimistic that the beans from GUATEMALA would adapt.. I suggested that every plant that Haiti needs is growing right here in the DR,)
And while deforestation is certainly an issue in Haiti, right now it has not been a big priority. Security has been. Agriculture, wages, getting dual citizenship for the diaspora -- all have ranked higher. There are areas in Haiti now that are going to be facing famine for the first time. http://v4.fews.net/docs/Publications...2009_05_en.pdf
(do not remember if I posted this info here before,, and forgive me if it is a bit off topic but I do think it is important info)
And there is a grave concern that a good percentage of the children under the age of 2 are going to face severe malnutrition.. and those who know about this will understand that if an infant's brain is deprived of essential nutrients in the first two years of life, it will never recover its capacity.
Dominicans may remember that it was under Balaguer that the subsidized gas cooking stoves and fuel was distributed here in this country, which got the majority of the population off of charcoal. Along with his policies of putting land into the National Parks, this has resulted in the DR having more forest cover now than it did thirty years ago.
There are substitute fuels being planted, such as jatropha, although the fuel does not seem to be as good as gas and the stoves inefficient. There are small projects trying to make briquets out of bagasse.... and potentially, the sugar cane bagasse from the DR might actually be a way out for Haiti.
Alternately, there could be a planting program that actually planted trees specifically FOR charcoal use. Everyone just says,,, non non non but it is going to be years and years before the population in Haiti can burn anything else.
My opinion is that the only ways to stop this is by:
1) Constant Policing.
or
2) Give them an alternative source of fuel and income.
the problem with the 1st option is that its difficult to police large areas, or keep the rangers honest. also, those that are making his charcoal are not cutting this so they can cook, but is actually a business, and because they are making money by doing this, its just not going to stop.
I mean, you can go ahead, reforest that whole area, hire hundreds of rangers to police the area, you ay be able to control it for a while, but founding changes, governments change, so do you really think that you can keep this up for years on end? the time it takes for trees to grow?
1 Solution is, find a way for these same charcoal makers to make money off of green fuels like Jatropha or other alternative fuels. since they will now be making a profit, people making Charcoal will be a competition to them and they will police themselfs ( kind of like how the transport sindicatos defend their business/routes etc )
and another solution is to satisfy the demand by making another fuel source more attractive to the consumers. Instead of spending millions on policing large areas of land, why no give away oil stoves like they have done in Africa,
heck there is even a manufacture of these stoves right here in the DR. called the Aristo. a stove like this or others like it can be distributed free or very cheap.
what I am getting at is that, remove the demand for charcoal by making it inconvenient, more costly, and/or obsolete.
Just wanted to add to my previous post, that I am not promoting any particular company, the Aristo is a nice looking product but looks like it would be a bit costly, there are similar more economical type oil burning stoves on the market.
And also I know its not practical to distribute these stoves to everyone, what could be done is distribute a few thousand around the border towns ( both Haiti and DR ) and get some locals started in the Jatropha ( or other oil ) production.
this way everyone wins, your setting up a local business, Jatropha is a fast growing plant that can grow in poor soils, and little water. although Moringa is not mentioned much for alt fuel, maybe because its oil percentage is not as high as Jatropha, but Moringa has other advantages, All parts of this tree can be used, I'll just place a video instead of trying to explain it all
Once you have success in a few villages and towns, people in other communities will just copy whats being done, because it makes them money, and consumers will eventually prefer it because its easier, and could be even cheaper , also allows you to cook indoors without smoke at anytime.
There is a German NGO named GTZ which has a project growing Jatropha on the border. I interviewed them but the head guy was simply not enthusiatic about it-- he said that the stoves were inefficient, that the fuel simply was not that good. So it is going to take some more enthusiatic supporters to make that an option.
Indeed, the answer may well be in some alternative but the cost of gas is going to be way above what most Haitians can pay. Charcoal is a way of life in Haiti, thousands and thousands of people make their living from its production. So not only do you have to replace the fuel, you have to replace the livlihood of thousands.
It is even difficult to introduce any sort of innovation, such as a solar cooker, into a population which has followed the patterns of their predecessors for generation.
One Peace Corps worker I know, one of the last in Haiti before they pulled out in 05 said that she had great difficulty in even trying to teach them to soak the beans overnight, which cuts the cooking time down substantially.
One other thing is to reforest with fruit trees perhaps which are valuable in their own right,.
Haiti s charcoal, DR forests
