15225: Vishnusurf: AP article on Foret des Pins (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: VISHNUSURF@aol.com

March 23, 2003
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORĘT DES PINS, Haiti, March 22 (AP) - In a musty shop near
the capital's dilapidated cemetery, Josue Termidor takes a
rasp, gently sanding a coffin made of avocado tree planks.
A decade ago, the coffin would have been carved from heavy
mahogany.

"All the good wood is gone," says Mr. Termidor, 32, his
fingernails caked with putty used to seal the brittle wood.
"It's got harder to make a living, and the lack of wood
makes families disappointed and the dead angry."

Once blanketed by lush forests, Haiti is now nearly 90
percent deforested. Competing against a demand that has far
exceeded supply, the Caribbean nation loses more than 30
million trees a year to provide wood, fuel and work to a
desperate population.

"The peasants cutting down the trees make even less," added
Mr. Termidor, flanked by a metallic mauve "tęte-boeuf" or
first-class coffin.

Haiti's president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, leader of the
poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, has been unable
to tackle poverty, unemployment and political instability,
let alone the environmental tragedy.

Efforts have been stymied by rivalries between the
government and opposition, with millions of dollars in
international aid suspended since flawed 2000 legislative
elections. Some was earmarked for environmental projects.

"We face a total ecological disaster," Mr. Aristide said
last month. "Misery and the lack of education are making
people cut more trees."

Money would allow the government to prosecute illegal
loggers and pursue and an aggressive literacy plan to teach
people the value of trees, he said.

But trees are vulnerable even at Foręt des Pins, the Pine
Forest National Park that is one of Haiti's few protected
areas.

A "No Tree Cutting" sign hangs above the entrance to the
forest, on the border with the Dominican Republic. Trash is
scattered about the giant pine trees, which have deep hack
marks in their thin trunks. Loggers make nightly journeys
here, slowly hacking away at trees until they fall. The
next day, they are on a truck to the capital,
Port-au-Prince.

"The problem is simple, just stop cutting down the trees,"
said Joel Joseph, a forest ranger with the Ministry of
Agriculture. "But you have to have the resources to educate
people and to enforce the law. I say the problem is simple,
but deep down I know we're headed for disaster."

In 12 years Mr. Joseph has watched his forest disappear, to
34,580 acres from 93,860. Roadblocks are set up to stop
illegal loggers, and their logs are confiscated. But even
if they are caught, the rangers lack the power to arrest
them.

Political instability has also accentuated the despair,
pushing hundreds to the forests for a source of income.

"When there are political problems in Port-au-Prince, more
people come up here with chain saws," Mr. Joseph said.

The scarcity also affects farmers. With no tree roots to
hold the soil, topsoil has disappeared and fewer vegetables
can grow. Some farmers also report a change in weather.

"Because there are fewer trees, there's also less rain,"
said a 40-year-old farmer, Cedner Jean. "Dew allows us to
grow cabbage, potatoes and beans but we can't grow anything
else anymore."

It takes a dozen planks, which cost $60, to make Mr.
Termidor's shoddy casket. Each sells for an average of
$200, and with the profit he pays seven employees, the rent
and transport for the planks.

Coffins are potent symbols in Haiti, where properly burying
the dead is tantamount to ensuring protection for the
living. But without wood, Mr. Termidor risks angering
grieving families and his employees.

For Mr. Termidor, "It's a good business because more people
are dying." When he began 15 years ago he made nine coffins
a month. Now he makes 15. "But without trees," he said,
"we're all going to end up dead."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/international/americas/23HAIT.html?ex=104939

9325&ei=1&en=ebb94ca149736adb