Nation | Nature

The Beginning

As the first permanent European settlement of the Americas the island of Hispaniola has experienced a tumultuous political and environmental past. To better understand the current landscape and its contextual potential I thought it was necessary to understand the historic events that critically shaped both sovereignties into their territories today. To be honest, I knew little about the history of the island, and to my surprise the environmental aspects of the Caribbean archives blends politics and economics into a tragedy greater than any tele-novella imagined. 

Indigenous Culture

Chronicling the arrival of Columbus in 1492 the island itself had already been inhabited by human life for almost 4,000 years. The state of indigenous societal practices by the Taíno people prior to colonization became a key factor in the way the island was conquered and, ultimately, the way the environment was affected as well. As a culture the Taínos practiced slash and burn agricultural techniques for cultivating crops such as yucca, sweet potatoes, peanuts, Tabaco, chilli, pineapple, maize etc. Taking into consideration the fact that tobacco and corn are not native to the island, their presence prior to the arrival of Columbus suggests the trade migration of aboriginal agriculture between the island and South America. The impact the Taíno people left on the island can be attributed to the amount of time they populated the island prior to Columbus’ arrival in 1492. As a culture, the Taíno population reached just under half a million people, and therefore left a large portion of land untouched. Although the island was domesticated, the Spaniards found and conquered what was to be considered ‘uninhabited’ land.  

Colonization

The introduction of Spanish leadership instituted slavery, livestock, gold mining and plantations, and as a result, the Taíno population gradually disappeared over the next 30 years. The shift in population attributed to new economic needs, and the introduction of the sugar industry marked an important transition in ecological evolution. The first establishment of the colonial sugar industry resulted in mass deforestation to supply firewood and space for production-the extent of which lasted throughout the 16th century. Moving forward to the 17th century, the decline of the sugar cane industry made room for the natural regeneration of the formerly deforested landscape where wild cattle could eventually establish presence on the island. As result, the French were attracted towards the western end of the island seeking leather and fresh hunting ground. It was then, during the second half of the 17th century , that settlement began in the western end of Hispaniola, and plantations were established for the primary growth of tobacco.

On the eastern end Spaniards cultivated cacao as their primary large-scale resource during this time. As populations continued to decrease, environmental impact by new settlers was minimal. Until 1698, when the first sugar mills were introduced to the western portion of the island,  the French  had yet to begin their exploit of forests for multi-use demand. Within the landscape, the first sugar mills were built on flat land, however, as technology advanced and demand increased, the French began to encroach on the forest hills and mountains for excess supply.  The destructive nature that followed French settlement in the Western end of the island resulted in damaging ecological effects, including onset erosion from deforestation.One of the biggest differences between the French and Spanish settlements was population. In the late 18th century, the Spanish reached a total of 180,000 people while the French exceeded population growth, and just about tripled the numbers of eastern settlers at this time. Granted, the majority of the population was comprised of slaves, however, in order to stabilize the economy, an estimated 30,000 slaves were brought to the island annually between 1783-1789. Considering the fact that the western territory was comparatively smaller the effect and impact on the land was much greater due to the population density.

Major Events

After major events, such as the Haitian Revolution of 1791, the conversion of Haiti into an independent state in 1805, and the onset emigration to Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Venezuela in 1812, there was a huge decline in population across the island. The extinction of mills created excess demand for wood fuel, and pushed the Haitian government to encourage timber exportation of Mahogany and Campeche in order to establish foreign trade. As a result, the next century was devoted to the wood industry in Haiti, ultimately leading to the extinction of forest and tree cover that is still prevalent today. Not only did deforestation affect the landscape, but the subsequent efforts to utilize the barren land for short-cycle cultivation also aggravated the landscape beyond repair. The culmination of these efforts lead to more erosion, land destabilization, and loss of retention during tropical storms making the Haitian landscape as we see it, today.

In 1930, Trujillo rose to power in the Dominican Republic, and sought value from the preserved pine forests. His position in power focused toward industrial logging, and the pursuit of economic profiteering through mass deforestation across the territory.  The industrial deforestation resulted in the occupation of intermountain valleys, and lead to dried out water sources and seasonal fires yielding the land impossible to cultivate. Underneath Trujillo the ~7 million acres of forested areas in 1916 decreased to a record 543,829 acres after his death.

Overall, the Dominican Republic stood at a higher advantage to Haitian territory due to alternative colonization practices. The landscape on the eastern side of the island is flatter, receives more rain, and allows for more fertile soils to be established.  The diversity in development and shift in politics has controlled the level of degradation on the surrounding landscape, however, the issue of preservation of local resources increases the fragility of the DR, and imposes an instability that can fall suit similar to a similar fate as Haiti if improperly managed.

Currently

With recent major storm events such as the 2010 earthquake, and Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the island has taken a beating against its landscape. On both sides of the landscape, major agriculture fields were flooded and ripped apart, while infrastructure was damaged beyond repair; leaving many homeless and without their livelihoods. As I explore the eastern side of the island, it is clear that the Dominican Republic is invested in fortifying the environmental protection of their unique landscape. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has initiated numerous projects across the country towards the reforestation and regeneration of these aggravated landscapes. However, in the current political climate, how many of these 'projects' are positive agents of change or fabricated media stories for the political campaign?  

Next month, I will be traveling to Haiti and hope to learn about local environmental projects unique to their region as well. 

Sources

+ https://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/UNEP_Haiti-DomRep_border_zone_EN.pdf

+ http://www.jmarcano.com/mipais/recursos/moyapons.html

+ http://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/17700/HaitiDomRep_border_zone_Summary_EN.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

+ San Miguel, P. L. (2006). The imagined island: History, identity, and utopia in Hispaniola. Univ of North Carolina Press.