Deforestation was accelerated in Haiti by colonizers who cut down trees for coffee, indigo, tobacco, and sugarcane plantations run by slave labour.
Today, the leading cause of this deforestation is charcoal production and the consequences have been devastating. A mere 1% of Haiti’s primary forests remain, and the UN estimates that 30% of those remaining trees are destroyed each year.
The reforestation projects we support aim to protect vital watersheds and improve food security throughout local communities.
Site coordinates: 19°29’00.3″N, 72°37’29.1″W
Planting partner: Eden Reforestation Project
Forest type: Agroforestry
Site size: 3, 767 hectares
Community engagement: This project has created a total of 1,217 workdays for local farmers between January and December 2021. 38% employees at this site are female.
Where the Noir and Massif du Nord Mountain ranges meet the Artibonite Plains of Gonaïves, the land is characterised by sparse tree cover and it’s vast, rugged topography.
Historically cloaked in thick forest, the landscape was initially cleared for logging, grazing, and agriculture during the colonial period. In recent years, the intensification of unsustainable charcoal production practices has accelerated degradation of the land, affecting agricultural productivity and thus producing a cycle of food insecurity and poverty.
The Gonaïves Agroforestry projects helps to break this cycle by replenishing the land with bountiful agroforestry, including orange, mango, avocado and moringa trees. Not only does this provide food security and economic opportunity within the local community, the trees protect and restore the soil while increasing biodiversity. When these trees eventually mature, they will produce seeds of their own, returning the forest to a point of natural equilibrium.
The Gonaïves Agroforestry project also conducts farmer training sessions that empower local farmer in with knowledge on grafting techniques, vegetable crop production, natural insecticide, soil conservation, and farm management.
By planting trees in Haiti, we’re helping support 10 of the 17 UN SDGs:
Hiring community members to reforest mangroves
Providing communities with the means to purchase and grow food
Providing meaningul work and supportive communities
Providing women and men with work and the means to support themselves
Creating jobs and opportunities to boost the area
Lifting people out of poverty and allowing them to earn a living
Planting trees that will go on to sequester CO2 in the future
Providing water filtration, improving habitats and regulating rainfall
Reducing flooding, providing habitats and improving soil quality
Working together to support sustainable development for our planet
By planting trees in Kenya we’re helping support 10 of the 17 UN SDGs: