The Dominican Republic has launched a reforestation project focused on planting 2 million trees across the country. Dominican Vice president Rafael Alburquerque announced yesterday that 280 brigades of 10 people each will be deployed in the year-long effort. He says more than 200 organizations, including private companies and non-governmental agencies, are helping. Alburquerque said that the planting of native species along rivers such as Nizao, Ozama and Jima is starting now as part of Reforestation Month. While the Dominican Republic has some of the most impressive forests in the Caribbean, neighboring Haiti has seen its forests dwindle from 8 percent to 3 percent as impoverished people chop trees for charcoal. The Dominican Republic is concentrating its reforestation efforts on the are along its border with Haiti.