Wednesday, June 5, on the occasion of the celebration of World Environment Day, the President Michel Martelly and his Dominican counterpart, Danilo Medina, launched in the town of Dosmond in Ouanaminthe (North East), the permanent official reforestation campaign of two countries.

This activity is designed to enable the two nations of the island to recover their vegetation cover of yesteryear, so to protect themselves from the ravages of deforestation and consequences caused by environmental degradation, during major climatic hazards. "Today, I declare officially permanent the national reforestation campaign until the end of my mandate in 2016," announced the Head of State, in the presence of Dominican and Haitian officials, including Jean Francois Thomas, Minister of the Environment, and his Dominican counterpart, Dr. Bautista Rojas Gómez.

This is around the slogan "Two countries, one island under the environmental protection" that took place this launching ceremony during which the Haitian and Dominican authorities have exchanged documents on various environmental issues. The idea is to prove that Dominicans and Haitians can and must help each other to fight together to protect the environment throughout the whole of the island.

During this day of celebration, the two presidents visited the Centre of Germplasm and Production of fruit and forest species of Dosmond, the largest in the country, where 1,200.000 seedlings are produced annually through a pilot project in the framework of tripartite cooperation Cuba-Dominican Republic-Haiti.

In this locality, the two heads of state also proceeded symbolically to the planting of mahogany seedlings. The authorities took the opportunity to appeal people to change their behavior vis-à-vis the environment. "Man must eat, live. But nature must withstand. This is, the importance of balance," stated the Minister Jean Francois Thomas.

Recalling that "The last national afforestation campaign dates back to 1980 [...] This means that for over 30 years, the efforts are not made ​​to that effect," President Martelly reported that since May 1, 2013, more than 400,000 seedlings have been planted in various parts of the country, especially in Saut d’eau, Bassin Bleu, Saut Mathurine, Morne l'Hôpital, Seguin, Kenscoff and Dosmond.

For his part, the Dominican President, indicated that an extensive reforestation campaign was also launched in the Dominican Republic, where more than 6 million seedlings had already been planted, while stressing that without the involvement of all in both countries, the reforestation of the island will have no meaning.

The President Martelly, for whom the Environment is one of its priorities, said he was more and more determined to intensify reforestation efforts throughout the country in order to pass the vegetation cover of the current 2% to 4% in the next 3 years. It is in this context and in more ambitious perspectives, that the Government plans to establish community forests to increase between 2013 and 2020 forest cover of 27% and establish of Plant Propagation centers in the 10 departments of the country, to achieve annual production capacity of 50 million seedlings.

HL/ HaitiLibre