Tensions along the Haitian-Dominican border often revolve around environmental issues, as Haitians seeking arable land and wood for fuel venture onto Dominican lands that are often part of protected forests. This was once again the scenario yesterday as violence erupted in northwestern Dominican Republic after authorities destroyed plots planted with fruits and vegetables by Haitians on Dominican protected land. The Haitians burned tires and blocked the highway that connects Dajabón province with the southwestern part of the country. An official in the Dominican army’s Cesfront border-security corps told Efe that the protesters set upon the soldiers with machetes and stones, so the military had to respond “prudently.” One of the protesters was hit by pellets.
The Environment Ministry’s top official in Dajabón, Ana Carrasco, defended the destruction of the provision plots, saying that many Haitians have occupied land in the country to grow crops, “destroying woodlands indiscriminately.” She claimed it was the fourth time the Haitians have been removed from that protected area. Timon Claude Salcime, spokesman for the demonstrators, said that in his country they have no land to till and for that reason have crossed into Dominican territory, where they have occupied “abandoned” terrain to grow crops so they can make a living.
With only 1% of its land still covered in forests, Haiti faces an unparalleled environmental catastrophe. Decreases in rainfall, loss of topsoil, and galloping desertification has left most of the peasantry without land to cultivate. The Dominican Republic, on the other hand, has recently stepped up its environmental protection efforts and has one of the Caribbean’s highest number of forest acres under protection.
Dominican officials estimate that around 1 million Haitians live in the country, most of them illegal immigrants who work in agriculture and construction. The Dominican Republic has often been criticized for its treatment of Haitians.
AP Photo: Haitians carrying goods to sell cross the Massacre river into the Dominican Republic in Dajabon, Friday, April. 13, 2007. The Massacre river forms the border between Haiti and Dominican Republic.
[...] The agreement will be implemented via the Quisqueya Verde reforestation program in Montecristi, Dajabón and Santiago Rodríguez provinces in the northwestern part of the country, as well as in the southwestern provinces of Elias Piña, Bahoruco, Independencia and Pedernales. Natural resources “are a national security” issue because “not just forests but also transborder waters” are at stake, Environment Minister Jaime David Fernández Mirabal said. “The production of charcoal is a threat to all of us, but when families join reforestation brigades you create green jobs, on the one hand, and reduce the pressure on resources, on the other,” Fernández Mirabal added. Trees have been cut in large numbers in the border to make the charcoal used for cooking by Haitians and Dominicans in the border region. Just a few weeks ago, Dominican forces moved to evict Haitians who had cleared land on protected Dominican forest land because they lack arable land on the Haitian side of the border (see our post on Haitian Protesters against Dominican Environmentalists). [...]
By: Dominican Republic to re-forest border with Haiti « Repeating Islands on June 19, 2009
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