This satellite image of the Island of Hispanola shows very clearly the contrast between Haiti (left) and the Dominican Republc (right) The devastation of the forest is startling. Only bad things can happen when you destroy a large forest. The mudslides in CA in the last few day is a direct result of the forest fires.
Sometimes a photograph says more than a thousand words. This is one of those images. Haiti is on the left and the Dominican Republic is on the right. This is not just the fault of successive corrupt and useless governments, but also of the people, who cut all the trees down till there's nothing left.
A barren land that is easily prone to all kinds of disasters, except for forest fires, since there is no forest left to burn. What a lack of vision or even common sense.
DEFORESTATION: BORDERLINE DESTRUCTIVE
Taking a flight across the Hispanola island border of Haiti, at left to the west, and the Dominican Republic, at right to the east, can yield a startling observation - a sheer contrast between a barren, deforested land and a thriving forest ecosystem.
Haiti has long been stripped of its once flourishing treetop cover. Demands for charcoal and other economic benefits in early 20th century Haiti prompted the deforestation of its land. Haitiโs environment remains one of the most devastated in the modern world. Only 30% of the land is arable, and a plan to eradicate poverty recoiled to be a chief cause of poverty in Haiti.
One of the most detrimental results of this deforestation lies in erosion and soil loss. Haitiโs forests were key in protecting against erosion, and following their disappearance, soil loss became widespread in Haiti. Karst topography is very important in filtering infectious agents in the water. Because Haiti is mainly composed of karst topography, a majority of its water is far less safe to drink, especially in a third-world nation lacking water purification. Haitiโs tropical forests used to act as a climate controller, absorbing rain. Oppositely, rain storms are now magnified into massive storms ravaging the barren landscape.
The Dominican Republicโs ecosystem, as pictured, is clearly quite different. It is described as a โmass of entangled foliageโ, with forests and other vegetation constructing a continuous canopy of green. Wildlife is quite diverse, and the Dominican Republic faces little of the deforestation problems that Haiti encounters today.
โSam J.
Photo credit: Harm de Blij, Michigan State University
