The major environmental problem facing Haiti’s biodiversity is explained, including video of tree-cutting within a national park.

Source: www.youtube.com

Deforestation does not happen in a vacuum–it occurs in an economic, political, and historical context.  Having successfully staged a slave revolution against France in 1806, they were ostracized from the global community (since the powers that be did not want to see slave rebellions or colonial uprising elsewhere) and were forced to look within for their own energy resources.  The nation’s forests were (and still are) converted into charcoal, leading to long-term environmental problems such as soil erosion, flooding, and habitat destruction for many species.  All of this increased  increased Haiti’s disaster vulnerability in the earthquake of 2010.     

 

Tags: Haiti, biogeography, environment, ecology, video, poverty, development, economic, labor.