Report 23. Impact of tree planting in Haiti : 1982-1995

Abstract

This document reports the impact of tree planting activities implemented under the Agroforestry Outreach Project (AOP) and Agroforestry II (AFII). These projects were funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) between 1981 and 1991. During this period, over 63 million trees were distributed to 253,000 small peasant farmers. This study is the first post project assessment of the effects of project tree planting on farmers and their environment. The consultancy team was comprised of a cultural anthropologist and a forester-ecologist with longstanding experience in Haiti. The study was conducted between January and March, 1995. Methodology The team visited nine regions representative of the CARE and PADF target areas under the AOP and AFII projects. The team interviewed 77 tree planters, and inventories 43 tree planting sites. Trees inventoried were planted between 1982 and 1986. Tree planter interviews elicited cropping and tree planting history, plot selection, motivations, changing in land use patterns, harvest and tree utilization, tree regeneration management, farm strategies, agricultural calendars and fallow patterns. Tree plot inventories included measurement of site environmental parameters; a tally of the harvested and standing trees planted between 1982-1986, harvested and standing coppice of the original trees, harvested and standing volunteers and harvested and standing coppice of the volunteers; stem diameter measurements of the standing trees and coppices, and stump diameter measurements of the harvested trees and coppice; and a determination of native species that had regenerated on site since time of planting. Data analyses were performed to estimate survival by site and species; wood volume of harvested and standing trees, reported harvest by product category, and the difference between reported harvest and inventory estimates; and gross value of reported harvests by product category and time since tree establishment. Land Use Patterns Farmers established trees in a range of configurations on all major garden types characteristic of peasant farm units: house gardens, adjacent gardens, field gardens, and mixed perennial gardens. Farmers favored sites with greater land security, but tree tenure was far more important than land tenure status. Two-thirds of the farmers continued to cultivate annual food crops on sites where they planted trees. Tree planting enriched border land use on more intensively farmed sites, resulting in a diverse mix of exotic and native species without sacrificing cropland for food. About a third of the farmers shifted away from the cultivation of erosion intensive annual food crops to establishment of permanent woodlots. Significant numbers of farmers used project trees to establish enriched fallows, charcoal gardens, and mixed perennial gardens linking trees to perennial cultigens such as coffee, plantains, and sugar cane. Tree Inventories The tree sites averaged 12.3 years old and achieved a survival of 35%. A third of the surviving project trees were still standing, dominated by Senna siamea, the most widely planted species, and other species such as Casuarina equisetifolia and Catalpa longissima valued for high value wood products. Leucaena leucocephala and S. siamea were the most heavily harvested trees and contributed over 80% of the wood volume. Considering all species, the original project trees have produced about 2.14 metric tons ha[superscript]-1 yr[superscript]-1 of wood. Coppice production, mostly from 4 species, contributed an additional 0.5 metric tons ha[superscript]-1 yr[superscript]-1. A second generation of volunteer trees, mostly from 5 species, produced 0.25 metric tons ha[superscript]-1 yr[superscript]-1. Farmers managed the regeneration of native species on half of the sites, dominated by species valued highly as sources of wood, including Simarouba glauca, Calophyllum calaba, Swietenia mahagoni and Bumelia Salicifolia. Harvests Reported harvests represented a little more than half of the estimated wood yields, with significant amounts of wood subject to uncontrolled harvests, particularly theft and piecemeal use of firewood, stakes and small poles. The most important products were charcoal and construction wood for peasant houses. Charcoal, produced primarily for sale, comprised over 80% of the wood harvested and 31% of the monetary value. Construction wood, harvested primarily for use, made up 15% of the harvested wood volume and 60% of its monetary value. Overall, the monetary value of the reported harvest was split equally between sale and use categories. The most significant levels of wood harvest by value occurred between eight and eleven years after planting. Services The trees providec important services as well as plants. Most tree planters attributed tremendous importance to project trees as a store of value, a specialized reserve in the peasant scheme for managing risk. The farmers made extensive uses of project trees to improve soil quality, increase land value, enhance aesthetics, break wind, provide shade for mixed perennial gardens and other important services. Environmental Impacts Project trees have positively benefited the environment by increasing habitat diversity and facilitating a shift toward soil conserving land use patterns. They are playing an important role as nurse trees that both attract seed dispersers and modify the microsite to favor regeneration. This in turn conserves natural pathways to tree regeneration which is the primary source of seedlings for the small farmer. Tree planting has increased the biomass production of degraded sites, and enriched habitats by improving the soil and site quality, increasing income potential, creating habitats with food and shelter for native fauna, and paving the way for succession by other species. Project Objectives Formal AOP objectives stated in the Project Paper have been attained. Peasant farmers have proved highly motivated to plant and maintain a substantial number of trees for a variety of reasons including soil conservation, fuelwood, and income; however, hardwood production has not proved to be a cash crop on a par with agricultural production. It occupies special niches and plays a complementary role in risk management and storage of value. Farmers are inclined to invest land and labor in trees, but they are unlikely to invest scarce cash resources in tree cropping nor to sacrifice opportunities for more lucrative food cropping. The basic purpose of the project was to help reverse environmental degradation. The AOP has had an important environmental impact; however, the farm forestry strategy has not restored the overall natural resource base. Green cover has been restored on thousands of widely dispersed microsites, but there are limits to this strategy due to the inherent fragmentation and dispersal of peasant farm plots with competing priorities. The project has enrolled about 25 percent of the Haitian peasantry in the tree extension program. This is an important achievement, but this alone cannot resolve the underlying problems of a peasant society in a chronic state of crisis, and a natural resource base stressed to the breaking point.

Rapò sa-abay rezilta yon etid sou enpak aktivite plante pyebwa ki te fèt sou Pwojè "Agroforestry Outreach Project" (AOP) ak Pwojè Agwoforestye (AFII). Pwojè sa yo te finanse pa "Agency for International Development (USAID)" pandan diz-an (1981-1991). Pandan tan sa-a, plis pase 63 milyon pye bwa te distribye bay 253.000 ti plantè. Etid sa-a se premye evalwasyon ki fèt apre pwojè sa yo fèmen, pou etidye rezilta plante pye bwa sou lavi plantè ak anviwonman yo. Nan ekip ki fè etid sa-a te genyen yon antwopològ ak yon forestye-ekolojis ki fè anpil esperyans an Ayiti. Etid sa-a te fèt nan epòk janvye-mas 1995. Metodoloji Ekip-la te vizite nèf (9) rejyon kote CARE ak PADF te travay pandan Pwojè AOP ak AFII. Ekip la te poze 77 moun ki plante pye bwa kesyon, e li te fè envantè 43 sit kote yo te plante pye bwa. Pyebwa sa yo te plante ant 1982-1986. Kesyon te poze sou istwa plantasyon pyebwa ak kilti yo, sou chwa tè yo, sou rekòt ak itilizasyon pwodwi yo, sou fason yo jere pitit ak repous pye bwa yo, sou estrateji plantè yo chwazi, sou kalandriye agrikòl ak sou fason yo kite tè-a poze. Pou chak tè ki te chwazi pou fè envantè-a, men sa ki te konte ak mezire: kantite pyebwa ki rekòlte ak kantite ki rete sou tè-a nan sa ki te plante ant 1982-1986, kantite tayi (repous pyebwa ki koupe) ki rekòlte ak kantite ki rete sou tè-a; dyamèt tij pyebwa ak tayi ak dyamèt souch pyebwa ak tayi ki rekòlte; espès natif natal ki rejenere sou tè-a depi plantasyon yo fèt. Analiz chif ki ranmase yo pèmèt estime pousantaj pyebwa ki pran (siviv) nan chak sit ak pou chack espès; volim bwa ki rekòlte ak sa ki rete nan pyebwa sou tè-a, kantite chak kategori pwodwi plantè-a di li rekòlte sou tè-a, ak diferans ant sa plantè-a di ak estimasyon ki fèt nan envantè-a; anfen valè angwo (san retire depans) rekòt plantè-a di li fè pou chak kategori pwodwi ak tan depi plantasyon-an fèt. Jan plantè yo sèvi ak tè yo Plantè yo plant pyebwa sou tout kalite tè: jaden bò kay, jaden pre kay, jaden lwen kay, ak jaden miks ki genyen plant ki rete lontan nan tè-a. Plantè yo pito mete pyebwa sou tè yo santi yo genyen plis sekirite, men sekirite sou pyebwa-a pi enpòtan lontan pase sekirite sou tè-a. De tyè (2/3) plantè yo kontinye fè lakilti sou tè yo plante pyebwa yo. Sou tè plantè yo travay anpil, yo plante pyebwa plis sou lantouray, sa ki fè gen yon melanj pyebwa etranje ak natif natal san yo pa diminye sou tè yo fè manje. Apeprè yon tyè (1/3) plantè chanje fason yo sèvi ak tè-a: yo pa travay fè manje sou tè erode yo ankò, yo fè plantasyon pye bwa pito. Yon bon kantite plantè plante pyebwa pwojè-a sou tè yo kite poze, oubyen pou fè jaden chabon, oubyen pou fè jaden ki genyen plant ki rete lontan nan tè-a tankou kafe, bannann ak kann. Envantè pyebwa yo Pou tout tè ki konsidere nan envantè-a, pyebwa yo genyen anmwayenn 12,3 lane, apeprè 35% pyebwa yo te pran (siviv). Yon tye (1/3) pyebwa pwojè-a siviv te kanpe sou tè-a toujou. Se plis Senna siamea ki te genyen sou tè yo, ak lot espès tankou Casuarina equisetifolia ak Catalpa longissima ki bay bwa ki gen valè. Se Leucaena leucocephala ak S. siamea ki te plis rekòlte, yo bay 2,14 tòn metrik bwa/ekta/ane. Tayi yo, pou kat espès sitou, bay 0,5 tòn anplis bwa/ekta/an. Yon dezièm jenerasyon pyebwa volontè (pitit), pou senk espès sitou, bay 0,25 tòn bwa/ekta/an. Plantè yo jere rejenerasyon espès natif natal yo sou mwatye tè yo, ki plis genyen espès ki gen valè tankou Simaruba glauca, Calophyllum calaba, Swietenia mahogani ak Bumelia salicifolia. Rekòt Rekòt plantè yo deklare reprezante yon ti kras plis pase mwatye volim bwa ki kalkile. Kidonk, gen yon bon kantite bwa rekòlte ki pa kontwole, tankou bwa yo vòlè, bwa pou fè dife, pikèt ak ti poto. Pwodwi ki pi enpòtan se chabon ak bwa pou fè kay peyizan. Bwa pou fè chabon, sitou pou vann, te bay plis pase 80% volim bwa ki rekòlte ak 31% nan lajan ki rantre. Bwa pou konstwi te fè 15% volim bwa ki rekòlte e te vo 60% lajan ki rantre. Angwo, kantite lajan bwa yo bay te separe ren pou ren ant sa ki vann ak sa ki sèvi moun yo dirèkteman. Pi gwo rekòt bwa fèt ant wit (8) - onz (11) lane apre plantasyon. Sèvis pyebwa yo rann Se pa bwa ki rekòlte sèman ki enpòtan, pyebwa yo menm te rann sèvis tou. Majorite plantè konsidere pyebwa yo tankou yon bank, yon rezèv pou sitirasyon difisil. Plantè yo sèvi ak pyebwa pwojè-a pou amelyore tè-a, pou ogmante valè tè-a, pou bèbèl, pou kase van, pou bay lonbray nan jaden kafe ak kakawo, ak lòt sèvis ankò. Enpak pyebwa yo sou anviwonman Pyebwa pwojè-a gen yon enpak pozitif sou anviwonman-an. Yo ogmante divèsite abita yo (kote bagay ki vivan rete), e yo fasilite chanjman nan fason yo sèvi ak tè yo. Yo jwe yon wòl enpòtan ni nan atire bèt k-ap pote semans ni nan chanje kondisyon tè yo pou pèmèt rejenerasyon natirel fèt. Sa an menm tan pèmèt pyebwa leve pou plantè-a jwenn ti plantil. Plantasyon pyebwa ogmante pwodiksyon biyomas kote ki degrade yo, yo fè abita yo vinn pi rich, pase yo amelyore kalite sòl ak figi tè-a, yo ogmante posiblitie pou plantè-a tire plis lajan nan tè-a, yo kreye kondisyon, manje ak kay, pou bèt vinn viv, yo prepare teren pou lòt plant vinn pran. Objektif pwojè-a Objektif ki sou papye ansyen pwojè AOP-a reyalize. Peyizan yo montre yo trè motive pou plante ak pran swen yon bon kantite pyebwa pou diferan rezon, tankou pou konsèvasyon sòl, pou fè chabon ak bwa dife ak pou fè lajan. Sèl bagay, pwodiksyon bwa pa montre li ka sèvi kòm danre konpare ak pwodiksyon agrikòl. Pyebwa yo te plante kèk kote sèlman, kote yo sèvi kòm konpleman, kòm bank, kòm rezèv, pou garanti kont sitirasyon difisil tankou sizoka plantè yo pa ta fè bon rekòt. Plantè yo dakò pou envesti nan plante ak pran swen pyebwa, men yo pa soti pou depanse ti lajan yo genyen nan pyebwa ni pou sakrifye okazyon pou fè lakilti ki rapòte plis lajan. Bi prensipal pwojè-a se te pou ede konbat degradasyon anviwonman. AOP te genyen yon enpak enpòtan sou anviwonman-an, men estrateji ki te itilize pou fè plante pyebwa pa rive refè tout baz resous natirèl yo. Kouvèti vejetal la retounen sou milye ti sit ki lwen youn ak lòt, men gen limit nan estrateji sa-a akòz tè ki gen pyebwa yo gaye e nan konpetisyon ak lòt priyorite tankou fè lakilti. Pwogram plante pyebwa pwojè-a touche apeprè 25% peyizan ayisyen. Se yon reyalaizasyon enpòtan, men sa sèlman pa kapab rezoud pwoblèm sosyete peyizan-an ki nan yon kriz nèt ale ni refè baz resous natirèl yo ki degrade nan yon eta k'ap difisil pou refèt.