Haiti - Overview

Status and Trends of Biodiversity

Overview

In spite of severe environmental degradation problems, Haiti has, together with the Dominican Republic, the second most diverse flora in the Caribbean, after Cuba. Floristic studies among the vascular plants invariably reveal new species, particularly in biological rich areas. According to a floristic study conducted by the University of Florida in the 1980s and 1990s, an inventory of orchids in the Macaya National Park (in the Southern Peninsula) revealed that a third of 134 species were not described at the time of their collection... More »

Number and Extent of Protected Areas

Protected areas, as integral parts of the development process and basic tools for sustainable development were recently integrated in the development scheme of Haiti even if from an historical perspective establishment of protected areas was pronounced during the 1920’s. Officially, the Haitian Government has identified a total of 35 protected areas covering about 6% of the national territory... More »

Percentage of Forest Cover

Haiti’s endowment of forest resources has been treated as a free good and exploited to capitalize economic development since colonial times. Europeans cleared mountain forests to establish coffee plantations and used clean-tilling agricultural practices that promoted soil erosion. European colonists and then, later, Haitian governments harvested and exported timber (chiefly mahogany, ironwood and logwood) to earn hard currency... More »

National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan

Major features of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

The Haitian government initiated a GEF Biodiversity Protection Enabling Activity to prepare a National Biodiversity and Action Plan (NBSAP) and establish a Clearing House Mechanism, with World Bank assistance. In order to meet obligations under the CBD, the MDE conducted a series of national and international consultations (thematic workshops on biodiversity, seminars, etc), whose major objective was to capture views on main biodiversity issues and gain a clear sense of the measures for the sustainable management and conservation of the country’s biodiversity... More »

Implementation of the Convention

Measures Taken to Achieve the 2010 Target

The Ministry of Environment, through the General Inspectorate for the Environment, has deployed a surveillance corps into the three main protected areas (Macaya, La Visite and Forêt des Pins) to halt the degradation of forest biodiversity in these rich natural areas. The Haitian government has promulgated to the Official Journal of the Haitian State, Le Moniteur, on January 26, 2006 (161st Year, Number 11) a general Decree on Environment (Décret-Cadre) which represents the legal foundation of the national policy of environment and provides regulation guidance for a responsible behaviour of Haitian citizens in terms of sustainable development and will serve as a legal umbrella strategy for all sectors of the environment in Haiti, including biodiversity... More »

Initiatives in Protected Areas

The Ministry of Environment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to complete the National System of Protected Areas of the Country. The finalization of the NBSAP is included among the areas of action prioritized by the MOU. The Haitian government, through the Ministry of Environment, has also taken concrete steps to submit to the GEF a Project to establish, with the Dominican Republic an International Biosphere Reserve, including a Biological Corridor along the Mountains of Massif de la Selle and Sierra de Bahoruco for conservation and economic purposes... More »

Initiatives for Article 8(j)

Various institutional supports have been given to some traditional healers association.

National Contacts

Full details of national contacts »

Convention on Biological Diversity

S.E. M. Jean François Thomas	Protected Areas NFP, GSPC NFP
M. Paul Judex Edouarzin	CBD Primary NFP, ICNP ABS NFP
Mme. Martine Elisabeth Mathieu	SBSTTA NFP

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Mr. Yves-Robert Personna

Cartagena Protocol Primary NFP, BCH NFP