Fragile states / Comment
Haiti: From the "Pearl of the Antilles" to desolation
19/09/2008 By Nancy Roc
The environmental crisis in Haiti is extremely serious: deforestation, land erosion, water shortages, lack of urban cleanliness, loss of biodiversity, urbanisation, growing shantytowns, and demographic pressure - all of these factors serve to increase the vulnerability of the Haitian population.
T.Belizaire/AFP/Getty Images
The situation is almost irresolvable: the lack of energy and electricity and the widespread use of wood-charcoal, combined with a lack of public policies, indicate that the environment is clearly not a government priority.
To better understand the ecological catastrophe striking Haiti today, this commentary proposes a global, holistic or systematic analysis, taking into account the multiple factors that have lead to Haiti’s vulnerability, which is likely to increase further due to the effects of climate change .
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Keywords
Civil society Haiti Humanitarian action Humanitarian aid Latin America & CaribbeanRelated publications
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Bio author: Nancy Roc
Nancy Roc has worked as a freelance journalist for 23 years. She is the author of three socio-political works and hundreds of articles published in different newspapers and on different websites
