Border wall threatens huge wetlands between the Dominican Republic and Haiti

Post author:Deborah Acker
Post published:March 31, 2023

 AFP.- A vast mangrove forest is cut in two by the wall that the Dominican Republic is building on the border with Haiti, which according to environmentalists has become an impassable barrier to the watercourse that feeds the wetland and its plant species And animals.

This border fence, which will cover 160 of the 380 km of border between these countries that share the island of Hispaniola, is part of the aggressive immigration policy of the government of President Luis Abinader, which has multiplied the deportations of Haitians.

What is the environmental risk?

The Dominican Academy of Sciences estimated “irreparable” damage in the wetland area of ​​the Monte Cristi National Park, in the northwest of the country.

“Here the gorge that gives water flow to the mangrove swamp was interrupted,” Roque Taveras, an ecologist and Environment Ministry official, told AFP as he pointed from a hill toward the 250-meter-long section of wall that crosses the wetland. with mangroves that can exceed 20 meters in height.

Remains of felled trees surround that section. “That mangrove, red mangrove, was hundreds of years old,” Taveras comments when he sees a large terracotta-colored trunk during a tour of that stretch, now at ground level.

“How long does it take for a new mangrove to reach that size?” he wonders when faced with promises of reforestation.

However, the Ministry of Defense, responsible for the work, says that “only 6 km2 have been touched, 0.04% of the wetland area.

Hiciar Blanco, president of Manzanillo EcoAventura, an organization that organizes tourist visits and promotes the preservation of the area, regrets that a project by the University of Pennsylvania, United States, for an ecological viewpoint was ignored.

The works are momentarily paralyzed in that section of the wall by order of environmental authorities, who demand the construction of 16 nozzles that will give way to the water.

What species are affected?

“We have the four species of mangroves” that grow in the Dominican Republic, says Taveras. “Red (rhizophora mangle), white (laguncularia racemosa), black (Avicennia germinans) and button (Conocarpus erectus),” lists this 52-year-old man.

The blue crab (Cardisoma guanhumi), called by the Dominicans “Paloma de Cueva”, is part of the fauna of the ecosystem.

This crustacean, with pincers that can reach 15 centimeters in length, is among the animal species that the Dominican government considers “vulnerable” due to habitat reduction and excessive capture for human consumption.

Small fiddler crabs also live there, and when people approach them they rush into ponds at full speed.

Birds such as the Ash Dove (Patagioenas inornata) and several species of herons nest in the area, continues Taveras.

The environmentalist says that there have even been recent sightings of alligators, which have been considered extinct in the area for more than three decades.

What is the impact on the local population?

“The impact has been very negative,” says Blanco, 49.

“It already began to affect us, because this was an area where we came to show tourists how far we are from our neighbor” Haiti, he says. “We came to show the mangrove.”

His group organizes kayaking and other activities in the national park.

When the border wall is finished, “we will not have easy access,” questions the activist, because a large part of the mangrove forest will remain on the Haitian side.

Artisanal fishermen will also have problems, says Blanco, who has a sailfish tattooed on his right forearm in honor of his father, a fan of fishing.

“There are crab fishermen who practically support their family from that fishing, done responsibly (…). For the tourist it is one of the most exquisite dishes”.