Payment for Ecosystem Services in Rural Haiti

The international community has committed to supporting Haiti’s goals of reducing poverty, improving environmental sustainability, and reducing vulnerability to natural disasters. Efforts to date have failed to generate lasting impacts. One reason for the lack of success is that the country has a highly unfavorable combination of low incomes, weak governance, and political instability. These factors combine to make it difficult to convert promising ideas into ongoing, financially sustainable efforts. Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) is one promising approach for helping to shift sustainable development activities onto financially viable foundations. In rural Haiti, such PES schemes could potentially support reforestation programs, sustainable charcoal production, erosion control mechanisms, and biodiversity conservation.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has launched an ambitious sustainable rural development program in the southwest region of Haiti, planning multi-million dollar investments in the coming years. UNEP has requested help identifying the most promising options for implementing PES schemes in this area. The workshop will review promising models developed in other locations, identify possible applications in Haiti, evaluate potential revenue streams and other benefits from such applications, identify critical knowledge gaps, and recommend specific next steps. Interaction with UNEP will take place regularly on phone calls, through emails, and during occasional staff visits to New York. The product of the workshop will be a written report.