Overview:
A brand new $90,000 undertaking goals to guard Haiti’s endangered Haut-Fourneau mangrove in Port-de-Paix, preserving biodiversity and boosting eco-tourism with native and worldwide help.
PORT-DE-PAIX — In an effort to protect one in every of Haiti’s most fragile ecosystems, native environmental teams have launched a $90,000 conservation undertaking to guard the Haut-Fourneau mangrove in Port-de-Paix, a coastal metropolis within the nation’s northwest.
In northwest Haiti, the place environmental degradation and financial hardship usually go hand in hand, a brand new $90,000 conservation effort seeks to guard one of many nation’s final remaining mangrove ecosystems.
The Haut-Fourneau mangrove, overlaying almost 700 acres close to Port-de-Paix, supplies very important protections in opposition to erosion, serves as a nursery for marine life, and shops giant quantities of carbon. However it’s underneath rising menace from unlawful logging, overfishing, and air pollution. The brand new undertaking, backed by the French Company for Improvement (AFD) and Haitian Biodiversity Fund (FHB), is led by grassroots teams GADEL and AGRIBEL.
It goals to advertise sustainable livelihoods like beekeeping and eco-tourism, whereas formally designating the mangrove a protected space. Organizers and residents alike say the initiative is a lifeline—for each the surroundings and the individuals who rely on it.
“This mangrove space should be managed properly and guarded by state authorities,” mentioned Fednert Désile, president of the Group for the Administration of the Haut-Fourneau–La Saline Mangrove (OJMOLA). “It’s a nationwide treasure that would serve your entire group.”
A clip showcasing the Haut-Fourneau mangrove ecosystem and its necessary coastal area. Video through GADEL’s Fb.
Regardless of its ecological significance, the mangrove faces rising destruction from unlawful logging, air pollution, and concrete encroachment. Many residents reduce down bushes for charcoal and bakery gasoline—a observe pushed by poverty and the shortage of inexpensive power alternate options.
“The mangrove is disappearing little by little,” mentioned Désile. “Persons are destroying it simply to outlive.”
Environmental specialists warn that this destruction accelerates coastal erosion, worsens flooding, and undermines native livelihoods that rely on fishing and tourism. But, Haiti’s restricted environmental enforcement capability—mixed with low public consciousness and the nation’s broader financial hardship—makes sustained safety troublesome.
Mangroves like Haut-Fourneau are thought-about “blue carbon” ecosystems, able to storing huge quantities of carbon dioxide and mitigating the consequences of local weather change. However Haiti, the place greater than 98% of unique forest cowl has been misplaced, continues to face one of the extreme deforestation charges within the Caribbean.
GADEL, lively within the Northwest for 15 years, says coaching in sustainable fishing and different livelihoods like beekeeping shall be key to lowering exploitation of the mangrove.
“Our aim is to guard biodiversity whereas guaranteeing that folks can nonetheless earn a dwelling,” mentioned agronomist Owell Théock, GADEL’s govt director. “Preservation should go hand in hand with group improvement.”
A logo of cooperation, resilience, fishing and survival pressures
Antoine Michon, French ambassador to Haiti, who visited the location earlier this month, praised the collaboration between native communities and worldwide companions.
“France is proud to help this undertaking, which connects environmental safety, local weather resilience, and the sustainable improvement of native communities,” Michon mentioned. “By defending the mangroves, we shield each nature and the way forward for Haiti’s coastal households.”
The initiative builds on a roundtable held by the Ministry of the Setting earlier this 12 months, which gathered group teams and authorities officers to debate an built-in administration plan for the Haut-Fourneau ecosystem. The assembly was supported by the World Local weather Change Alliance Plus (GCCA+) as a part of the ministry’s Thirtieth-anniversary actions.
“This undertaking lays the inspiration for shared governance between public authorities, group organizations, and technical companions,” mentioned Noël Lucner, the Northwest Departmental Director for the Setting.
The Haut-Fourneau mangrove can also be an important fishing floor, offering a lot of the seafood consumed in Port-de-Paix. Overfishing, nevertheless, has put stress on marine life.
“The one method we survive is by fishing every single day,” mentioned fisherman Ismaël Désile. “If the federal government asks us to cease, we’d like different methods to stay.”
Environmental advocates say such voices underscore the pressing want for built-in options that deal with each ecological preservation and financial realities.
“The mangrove is not only a forest—it’s a lifeline,” mentioned Renel Octavius, a neighborhood resident. “It could possibly entice vacationers, generate jobs, and shield us from storms. The federal government should see its worth.”
Nevertheless, amongst many challenges are deforestation, poor waste administration, poverty-driven useful resource use, restricted environmental training and a scarcity of robust state regulation and enforcement coverage.