HAITI: DEFINING AN ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 002838

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS TO OES/PCI (LSPERLING) AND WHA/CAR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV EAGR ECON EAID HA
SUBJECT: HAITI: DEFINING AN ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA

SUMMARY
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1. REO visited Embassy PAP November 20-21 to meet with officials
from the Ministry of Environment (MOE),the World Health
Organization (WHO),the World Bank (WB) and the United National
Development Program (UNDP). GOH and NGO representatives explained
environmental problems and opportunities, and assessed projects
carried out by other donors. Major challenges include limited
resources, weak government capacity and ongoing security concerns.



2. NGO contacts identified integrated watershed management and
disaster response/ risk management as top priorities. MOE officials
focused on capacity building, natural resources degradation,
protected areas management and urban waste management. WHO is
building on its ongoing engagement on health issues like HIV to
anchor new initiatives on avian influenza (AI) and chemical safety.
Embassy PAP might consider engaging the Haitian government on
ratifying the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES); integrated watershed management; children's
education; and debt relief. END SUMMARY.


3. REO visited Embassy PAP November 20-21 to discuss environmental
priorities with MOE Director of Soil and Ecosystems Vernet Joseph;
HIV and AI with WHO program Directors Paulo Fernando Teixeira and
Vely Jean-Francois; disaster response with WB Coordinator for
Environmental Programs Sylvio Etienne; watershed management with
UNDP officials Arnold Dupuy, Ovidio Ibanez Lopez and Laura
Lopez-Ortum Collado; and sustainable development with USAID
Environment specialist Ben Swartley and Environment officer Lionel
Poitevien. REO also met with acting DCM Jay Smith.

Haitian Environmental Priorities
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4. With the new government in place for less than a year, the MOE
is in the early stages of developing an environmental agenda. When
asked to identify the MOE's greatest needs, government and donor
contacts consistently provided a variant on "everything." Soil and
Ecosystem Director Joseph flagged the following priorities, which
largely captured ongoing cooperation priorities with donors:

Priority 1: Building Capacity
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5. According to Joseph, one of the GOH's environmental priorities
is to strengthen the MOE's capacity to implement environmental
policy. The MOE faces the challenge of ensuring that more
established ministries take environmental priorities, particularly
Haiti's obligations under international law, into account. For
example, Joseph doubted that Customs officials were aware of the
paperwork needed to trade in endangered species, or their obligation
to screen for ozone-depleting substances. The MOE and USAID are
preparing a National Plan of Action on the Environment which will
provide a framework for implementing environmental policy
objectives.

Priority 2: Halting the Degradation of Natural Resources
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6. GOH and NGO officials recognized that deforestation is an
obstacle to Haiti's development and a threat to biodiversity.
Joseph emphasized its impact on agriculture (soil degradation and
loss),rural availability of water, and fishing (water siltation).
Reservoir silting also reduces production of hydroelectricity,
increasing reliance on fossil fuels for energy production. The WB
allotted USD 12 million for civil protection (disaster early warning
system),reforestation, and disaster management in coordination with
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Southern Command
(SOUTHCOM). UNDP, Canada, Spain and the U.S. plan to adopt key
river basins to promote integrated watershed management and address
disaster risks. These projects emphasize community-led development,
with key duties farmed out to municipal/local stakeholders. The
projects will encourage consolidation of local government and
grassroots democracy by stimulating local action in target
watersheds to reconcile the concerns of both downstream economic
interests (farmers or bottlers, for example) and riverine
communities who face diminished access to fresh water and heightened
exposure to natural hazards.


7. According to UNDP officials Dupuy, Lopez and Collado, the
organization anticipates sufficient coordination across donor
agencies to generate a Haitian model for watershed management.
Efforts in natural disaster risk mitigation, community-led watershed
management and sustainable production might benefit from the
expertise of Haitian geographical information system managers
trained with European Union assistance.


8. Integrated watershed management could find valuable partners
among private sector and NGO stakeholders. The WB is seeking
support from NGOs for economic governance reform, stressing in
particular anti-corruption, transparency and public participation.
USAID and USDA/APHIS have worked for years with the formal sector to
promote specialty organic and fair trade coffee, small-grower mango
production, and sustainably produced cacao. REO encouraged
interlocutors to consider White Water to Blue Water Partnership
(www.ww2bw.org) precedents and partners in planning their projects.


Priority 3: Consolidating Protected Areas
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9. Joseph noted that Haitian management of parks and protected
areas needed to accommodate the communities that have since settled
within park borders. Many parts of Haiti, including key watersheds
in its central areas, have experienced deforestation, but USAID and
UNDP representatives stressed that Haiti is not completely the
treeless country of international perception. The southeast and
southern peninsula pine forests are the best preserved of the wooded
areas. Appropriate management of these areas could provide an
opportunity for sustainable logging. In the north, the World Bank
is looking to reforestation to help combat drought and
desertification.


10. Both protected areas and natural resource conservation may
benefit from the prospect of adventure tourism in Haiti. Although
violence is an ongoing concern in Port au Prince, relative calm in
rural areas has stirred a tentative interest in adventure tourism --
a solar-powered ecolodge is now open for business and Royal
Caribbean is scouting out new opportunities for cruise ship visitors
in northern Haiti. (Note: Econoff recently returned from a visit to
Cap Haitien and noted that Royal Caribbean's Labadie tourist
enclave, previously advertised as part of "Hispaniola," is now being
marketed as Haiti. End note.)

Priorities 4 and 5: Urban Waste and Educational Outreach
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11. Port-au-Prince's garbage could well be the most relentlessly
visible environmental challenge facing the government. There are no
recycling facilities in Haiti and only a handful of garbage trucks
to service Port-au-Prince. (Note: The garbage trucks that currently
service Port-au-Prince are USAID-funded, but, at the Madrid Donor's
Conference, the Venezuela government announced the donation of five
additional garbage trucks. End note.) Garbage typically
accumulates at key intersections across the city until a torrent of
rain washes the trash away, or exasperated residents either burn it
or hire a truck to haul it off. In addition, the city's sewage
pours untreated into the Gulf of Gonave, rendering freshly caught
fish a potential health hazard.


12. Joseph acknowledged MOE's responsibility in raising
consciousness about environmental problems. His terse responses to
questions from Emboffs on the subject, however, suggest little
progress to date.

Constructive WHO Engagement on Human Health
--------------


13. According to WHO Project Chief Teixeira, the most dramatic
success on the health front is the reduction of HIV prevalence from
approximately 7 percent of Haiti's population at the height of the
HIV crisis to 2.2 percent(UN AIDS 2006 statistics) in 2006 - an
accomplishment achieved despite years of political instability. WHO
officer Francois expressed satisfaction that Haiti had completed the
development of an AI response plan that produced closer coordination
among Health, Finance, Trade and Agriculture ministries. He
appeared less sanguine however, that GOH ministries have the
capacity to implement the plan if called upon. Francois said the
likeliest vector for avian flu's appearance in Haiti is migratory
birds. Other WHO projects include:

-- Boosting MOE's capacity to manage chemicals and to prepare a
National Plan for Chemical Safety, which would focus primarily on
labor practices.

-- Drafting an institutional analysis of the water sector, which
would be used to identify pilot projects for investment.

Next Steps
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14. Staffing levels and security concerns pose difficult challenges
for incorporating environmental issues in the Embassy agenda. In
general, the Embassy might use its authority to convoke key
government officials and donor experts to discuss environment and
health priorities. Tools such as the Embassy Science Fellows
Program, the American Fellows Program, and video conferences could
bring U.S. expertise to bear in support of programs carried out by
USAID, UNDP, WHO and others. Some opportunities:

-- Haiti is the sole country in the Western Hemisphere (by REO's
count) not party to CITES. Embassy PAP might consider whether the
notional USAID plan to strengthen Customs could serve as an
opportunity to educate key ministries about CITES, and lobby for
Haitian ratification of the agreement. More generally, the USAID
effort with Customs might take into account Green Customs
(www.greencustoms.org) elements. (Note: REO noted that endangered
hawksbill turtle products were being marketed to tourists at his
Port au Prince hotel and at the Airport Duty Free stores. Haiti is
not a party to CITES, but sale of hawksbill shell souvenirs to
visitors from other countries risks exposing them to penalties on
their arrival home. End note.)

-- The MOE's interest in integrated watershed management provides an
opportunity to tap into the expertise of the White Water to Blue
Water Partnership (www.ww2bw.org) for partners, precedents, and
primers.

-- Haitian environmental education might benefit from the
introduction of Project GLOBE (www.globe.gov) to the Ministries of
Education and Environment. GLOBE is a USG-supported program to
teach children how to use science to interpret changes in their
environment. Schools in key watershed areas might be able to use
GLOBE techniques in support of watershed management goals.

-- Debt relief mechanisms like the Tropical Forest Conservation Act
can bring significant resources to bear in support of sustainable
development and forest protection, respectively. To qualify, Haiti
would need to demonstrate quality forests and meet certain economic
criteria. While some expect Haiti to benefit from outright loan
forgiveness, post may wish to consider whether a debt swap could be
an element of any debt forgiveness strategy.

FRISBIE