Water for Life – How 90,000 Tree Seedlings Are Doing the Job in South-Eastern Haiti

Plain and simple, but nonetheless: Access to water is crucial – and it is especially valid for securing the livelihoods of families who depend on small-scale farming in communities that are highly exposed to climate change impacts such as droughts and shifting rainy seasons. When springs dry up, life comes to a halt. From the outset sustainable water management has been pointed out as an integral part of the portfolio of EbA measures realized in the regions where the Resilient Caribbean Communities (CCR) project is being implemented since 2019.

As one measure on the way to achieving this objective, a comprehensive planting program has been dedicated to reforest high-altitude areas above four main springs in the south-eastern municipalities of Thiotte, Grand Gosier and Anse-à-Pitres. 30,000 seedlings per region were planted on grounds that are affected by advanced deforestation and identified as water-bearing soil layers. They are connected to springs fundamentally relevant for the water supply of the communities.  

In the medium to long term, the growth of these trees will improve water storage capacities and the renewal of groundwater by doing one thing above all: stabilizing the soil, protecting it from erosion and thus keeping it fertile.  The focus on diversifying tree species to include fruit trees provides the smallholders participating in the CCR project with additional economic benefits. It also prevents the trees from being cut down again as would be the case with purely forest tree species.