Denuded hillsides in rural Haiti (Photo: Scott MacKenzie)

The long road to recovery is under way in Haiti, but it will be an arduous and difficult journey. Beyond the devastation wrought by the earthquake, the country will have to continue to deal with many of the ills that plagued it prior. It is well known by now that Haiti had (and continues to have) the highest poverty levels in the western hemisphere. The nation severely lacks even the most basic infrastructure and services from health care, waste management, to property rights and land tenure. These troubles have been compounded over the last two and a half months.

Almost immediately following the earthquake, indeed within 48 hours, a team from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) began an assessment process to identify key areas of environmental vulnerability. These issues range from chemical spills to erosion and flooding vulnerability, and are crucial elements in re-stabilizing the country. Since the earthquake essentially knocked out UNEP’s main counterpart in the country, the Ministry of Environment, the responsibilities for addressing acute, response, and early recovery issues will in large part rest on the capabilities and offerings of the international community.

On January 21, UNEP released its first assessment of the environmental health, safety, and vulnerability of the areas affected by the earthquake (you can view UNEP’s Rapid Environmental Assessment by clicking here). These assessments provide the initial blueprint for aid agencies attempting to prioritize their fund-raising and donor activities to match the needs. Often with environmental interventions, they are embedded into broader “cluster” areas such as shelter, water and sanitation, agriculture, and so forth. Thus far, this would also appear to be the strategy in Haiti (to learn more about UNEP’s activities in Haiti, visit here).

There are a number of horrific priorities, including the decay of bodies and the accumulation of debris and hazardous wastes, both from the damage wrought by the earthquake and the response effort. Looking toward the long-term stabilization of the country, the displacement of people away from Port-au-Prince back toward rural areas will be an important focus area. This shift is unsettling due to the already heavily degraded and over-taxed condition of Haiti’s natural resource base, and its people’s dependence on charcoal (watch a video on the Haiti Regeneration Initiative).

Charcoal Production (Photo: Scott MacKenzie)

Prior to the earthquake, Haiti’s tree cover had been reduced to roughly 2% due to countless years of felling trees without also regenerating the areas from which they had been extracted. These trees are used for everything from creating charcoal fuel, to building materials, to simply clearing a space for agriculture. Over time, Haiti’s topsoil has been significantly reduced through erosion and seasonal rains that essentially wash the denuded landscape out to sea. Without the trees, the stability and resilience of the soil is degraded, crop yields drop, and poverty escalates. Considering that the majority of the people of Haiti are essentially living on sustenance, stemming the tide of deforestation has been incredibly difficult.

The devastation wrought by this tragic earthquake presents few areas for optimism, but it does present opportunities to tackle some of the more systemic issues that Haiti has faced for decades upon decades. Moving away from charcoal production and consumption is one of those crucial areas. As people continue to stream into rural areas and subsequently search for fuel options, they will undoubtedly fall back upon charcoal to meet their needs. The international community and donors responding to the country’s overwhelming cries for assistance should mobilize as rapidly as possible to meet these basic needs with alternatives that don’t strip the land of a future that is already being washed to sea each time it rains.

For more information on charcoal alternatives, watch this video from TED with Amy Smith.