Making changes in two sister communities

Cristino Alberto Gómez

Green Quisqueya National Plan

© 2010

Two communities under the same rain and sun

• Magacé and Fondo Grande are two sister communities in the border between Haiti and Dominican Republic.

• Their relationships have been exclusively in a labor context during a long time.

Two environment policies…

Photo by James Blair, 1987. http://therogersinhaiti.wordpress.com

…one trend

Photo by NASA. 2002. http://therogersinhaiti.wordpress.com

Green Quisqueya National Plan

• Green Quisqueya National Plan is a reforestation program implemented by the dominican government to restore the tree coverage in the dominican territory.

• It was first established through the vice-president office and the Ministry of Agriculture in 1996, but it was stopped after 2000.

• In 2007, three years after the reelection of doctor Leonel Fernández, the program restarted.

Green Quisqueya National Plan

• The new program was reforced with the designation of the former vice-president as Minister of Environment and Natural Resources in september 2008.

• The new incumbent assumed the goal of planting 20 million trees per year.

Photo: http://repeatingislands.com

• That year, both Ministries of Environment in Haiti and Dominican Republic signed an agreement to reforest the border areas.

• 5 million wood and fruit trees have being planted as part of this project called “green bordier” (Dominican Today, 2009)

Villa Anacaona Declaration

Photo: www.medioambiente.gov.do

Fondo Grande brigade

• Green Quisqueya works are made by brigades conformed for 5 to 20 members leaded by a forewoman.

• A brigade was designated ro work in Fondo Grande in response of a solicitude made by the Fondo Grande Development Board.

Magacé and the interchanges

• A new brigade was aproved to work across Fondo Grande, in a community called Magacé and I was designated to manage the new micro-project.

Magacé and the interchanges

• The Ministry of Environment reviewed our works a month later and, satisfied by the early results, aproved other brigade.

Magacé and the interchanges

• The new brigade was created to make the link stronger between Fondo Grande and Magacé.

• Every Friday started to be an interchange day.

• 200.000 trees were planted in 8 months.

The recent view of an old reality

• Magacé and Fondo Grande walk together in the solution of their common and single problems, and to improve the life quality of people in both sides of the border.

• The border don’t separate Haiti and Dominican Republic; it links them.

¡Thank you!

Sources of information:

• http://repeatingislands.com/2009/10/23/500000-trees-planted-to-mark-reforestation-month-in-dr/

• http://www5.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2009/6/28/32416/Dominican-Republic-to-reforest-border-withHaiti

• Dominican Today. 2009. Dominican Republic to reforest border with Haiti. http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/poverty/2009/8/5/32821/Haitian-charcoal-makers-ravage-the-border-Dominican-Environment-chief

• http://www.medioambiente.gov.do/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=277&Itemid=236

• http://www.medioambiente.gov.do/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=744&Itemid=248

• http://fondogrande.blogspot.com/2009/03/inician-brigada-quisqueya-verde-en.html

• http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/01/26/1445916/over-the-border-no-welcome-for.html

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