14 DAY TRIAL // High officials in Haiti have recently gone public with the news that the country is to work on doubling its forest cover by the year 2016. Reports show that the country's forests currently occupy a mere 2% of its entire territory, which is why it comes as good news indeed that efforts will be made to remedy this issue.
In order to have 4% of its overall surface covered by forest within said time frame, Haiti will have to plant an average 50 million trees on a yearly basis.
Inhabitat explains that, besides improving on local air quality and therefore benefiting public health, the trees are expected to help protect human communities from the damages caused by extreme weather manifestations.
Thus, these millions of trees are set to help absorb rainwater, and therefore yield significant benefits in terms of protecting both crops and local human communities from potential floods and mudslides.
The country's high officials are also hopeful that soil quality and agricultural practices in various part of the country will also benefit from this increase in the country's forest cover.
Due to the fact that most of Haiti's trees were felled in order to be turned into cooking fuel, the people in charge of overseeing the planting of these new ones argue that efforts must also be made to convince the country's population that solar power and kerosene are viable alternatives when it comes to cooking.
The same source informs us that Haiti's government is confident that the aforementioned problem can successfully be dealt with by means of a large-scale educational campaign.
As was to be expected, the country's new forests are to be closely monitored, primarily in order to make sure that they are not being damaged by illegal logging activities.
Though some are reluctant about the Haiti government's chances of doubling the country's forest cover by the year 2016, here's hoping they will succeed in their endeavor.