It Takes a Village to Save a Tree

During the week I spent in Haiti, getting a better sense of the land and the issues surround deforestation with Community2Community (C2C), I began to understand that solving deforestation was not just about planting trees and increasing the tree canopy. More often than not, true reforestation methods required community accountability and oversight to ensure that projects that were started are sustained and are not forgotten after the planting occurred.

The work of C2C’s local partner with community members was a prime example of the follow through that is necessary to maintain a reforestation program long term. In mountainous communities of Petit Goave, it was very common to see goats and cattle tied to trees along the mountainside for grazing. A problem that would arise from time to time, however, was farmers tying animals to young trees for grazing. Not only is there a risk that the animal might eat the leaves, there is also the risk that they might rip the tree itself from the ground, thereby damaging the tree’s root structure and any potential for successful tree development.

To curtail this, community leaders, with the help of the local mayor and judicial system, has devised a program over the past few years where farmers are required to pay a fine of 500 gourdes (about 11 U.S. dollars), if their animal is caught tied to seedling tree. The animal is photographed and given to a local community member who informs the owner that they have been fined. During my week there, I witnessed 2 animal removals from seedling tree and was struck not only by the diligence of local leaders in reporting these instances but also by the community acceptance of the process because it was understood that the loss of a tree was something the impacted the community in its entirety.

Reforestation projects are large undertakings that require significant oversight. This oversight depends on community participation that goes beyond simply planting trees; it also requires shifting norms and making residents accountable to each other for bettering the community as a whole.

Photo – A member of the farming and reforestation collective, C2C’s local partner, untying cattle from a young tree.