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STORY: HAITI / FORESTS
TRT: 8.04.
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CREOLE, NATS
DATELINE: 13 AND 14 MAY 2013, FONDS VERRETTES AND GROS CHEVAL, HAITI
13 MAY 2013, FONDS VERRETTES, HAITI
1. Various shots people walking in the ravine of Fonds Verrettes valley
2. Pan left, ravine
13 MAY 2013, GROS CHEVAL, HAITI
3. Various shots, farmers walking and working in Gros Cheval
4. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Yvrose Archil Anelus, farmer in Gros Cheval:
“Down there in Fonds Verrettes, you can see that there’s nothing left. All the trees are gone. But look here, we started replanting some trees to rehabilitate the environment. Pine trees are very important.”
5. Various shots, Widner. 12 years old, walking towards his field
6. Med shot, Widner digging
7. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Widner Anelus, pupil of Gros Cheval:
“It protects your body with oxygen. It protects your field when rain is pouring water into the soil. And it protects the land with the roots avoiding land spill during storms.
8. Wide shot, pine tree in the middle of a field
9. Various shots, Widner digging his field
10 .SOUNDBITE (Creole) Widner Anelus, pupil of Gros Cheval:
“You dig a hole. You put some fertilizer. And after planting you water the tree. Then you watch it grow.”
11. Med shot, teacher giving a lesson
12. Med shot, Widner attending lesson
13. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Widner Anelus, pupil of Gros Cheval (under shots of him attending course):
“I will plant trees. And if someone snatches them, you need to replant.”
14. Various shots of classroom
15. Wide shot, replanted pine forest with dry field in the foreground
16. Med shot, Jean Robert Sultan, agronomist, checking a pine tree
17. Wide shot farmer’s children sitting on a dry field
18. Wide shot, Sultan walking and talking to a child
19. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Robert Sultan, Agronomist:
“Today, at the Reboisement par l’Education foundation, we are working together with farmers associations and schools in a program aimed at rebuilding the environment in the country as well the educational system through reforestation. What you can see is an example: look at this part after three years of replanting pine trees, and next to it, the risk of what you get when you leave the land without trees.”
20. Wide shot, dry field next to young pine forest
21. Close up, pine branch
22. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Robert Sultan, Agronomist:
“This is like managing money or your family. It is the same. A proper management of your environment will enhance the way you live. Bad management leeds you to 2004 Fonds Verrettes disaster or the ones in Gonaives or Mapou.”
23. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Robert Sultan, Agronomist (under shots of pine trees and fields):
“Replanting now will give you a new landscape in ten years. And farmers will be able to make the best use of it.”
24. Various shots, pine trees and deforested hills
25. Various shots, dry field
26. SOUND-UP (Creole) discussion with a farmer:
“What I will do is leaving some spaces for the cattle and some space for the trees. I will plant them on a line. (Sultan answering) Yes! Plant them in a line!”
14 MAY 2013, FONDS VERRETTES PINE FOREST, HAITI
27. Tracking shot, burnt forest
28. Various shots, burnt trees and cut trees
29. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Robert Sultan, Agronomist:
“Burning a forest and making some free space to grow a new field is already the argument they use to do this”
30. Tilt down, from pine trees to young trees
31. Various shots, young trees
32. Close up, plantlets
33. Tracking shot, burnt trees with field in the back
14 MAY 2013, GROS CHEVAL, HAITI
34. Wide shot, deforested hills
35. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Robert Sultan, Agronomist:
“Their only chance there is to replant. Put new pine trees and grow a new forest. That will prevent the water from flooding the area, but also create a new opportunity to make some money.”
36. Various shots, deforested hills
37. Wide shot, Sultan walking on a hill with deforested zone in the back
38. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Robert Sultan, Agronomist:
“On the right side you have Alfos, look how bare is the hill! There is nothing left on it. In front of us you have Morne Delisme, Morne Goman, Morne Mayaman. They all lead to Verrettes. All this water is joining down there and leading to Verrettes. This was the cause of the disaster that happened there.”
39. Pan right, crater in the earth caused by water onto big ravine
14 MAY 2013, FONDS VERRETTES, HAITI
40. Wide shot, ravine with market in the back
41. Various shots, donkeys and women around the market inside the ravine
42. Wide shot, Sultan talking to BErnadin Delea, resident of Fonds Verrettes and his friends
43. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Bernadin Delea, Resident of Fonds Verrettes:
“I recall there was just one survivor. He managed to hang onto a branch of a tree. Amongst 9 people living in the house that was there, only he survived. Behind there, there was another house. Out of 8, just one survived. All the rest were houses. Everybody was carried away with the water. They all disappeared in the disaster of 2004.”
44. Wide shot, tomb in the middle of deserted land
45. Wide shot, ravine
46. Med shot, house ruins
47. Close up, window of the ruin with trees and ravine in the back
In Fonds Verrettes, Haiti, near the broder with Dominican Republic, the floods of 1998 and 2004 left a lasting impression. The ravine becomes a reminder of the constant danger.
If the cause of environmental damage is deforestation, we must turn the plates to understand how it works.
In Gros Cheval, farmers are aware of their responsibilities. This rural area is known for using trees to make charcoal.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Yvrose Archil Anelus, farmer in Gros Cheval:
“In this region, farming is a family business. Wendel, 12 is already growing his own potatoes, sweet potatoes or green beans. Like his mother, he knows that nothing can be done without preserving trees.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Widner Anelus, pupil of Gros Cheval:
And he remembers exactly how he planted his first pine tree, 4 years ago. He may become an engineer on day, but one thing is for sure; Wendel will never abandon his passion for environment. Since 2009, the mixed school of Gros Cheval offers a quality program. More importantly, it is almost free for the 97 students who are all farmers’ children. As tuition, their parents are just asked to replant 300 seedlings per year.
Jean Robert Sultan, who is passionate for environment, had this idea when he saw how his region had suffered from deforestation since 1987.
His challenge? Building on a long-term management.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Robert Sultan, agronomist:
Suddenly, the environment becomes a concrete concept with a clear perspective. But time is running short. In view of the extent of deforestation, every farmer in the area is invited to join the program. In the rainy season, pine tree plantlets will be distributed for free.
SOUND-UP (Creole) discussion with a farmer:
“Wood is big business. Some bad intended farmers have engaged a fierce battle. They have declared war on the preserved pine forest. In April 2013, it burned for an whole week. Why? There are radical arguments: They can sell the dead wood, make room for new crops, and they are also sending a message across.”
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Robert Sultan, agronomist:
“But it is not too late to save the forest. One of the main advantages of pine trees is that it is growing alone in a forest. No need to replant.”
So, these plantlets are the ones that farmers can use to replant where it’s necessary.
Hence, the importance of using them as partners. Especially those who own land that became infertile.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Robert Sultan, agronomist:
“Areas of intervention are multiple. With one challenge: how to control the flow of water and save lives. To the extent that every time it rains, a new way is craved for torrential waters.
Fonds Verrettes was virtually wiped out of the map, since 2004. For those who remain, there is not much left to do here. Everywhere, memories resurface of the missing ones.”
After losing her daughter in 1998, Bernardin has literally seen all his neighbors disappear in 2004.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Bernardin DELEA, resident of Fonds Verrettes:
“As we commemorate the 300 victims of 23 May 2004, the survivors have begun to work together to try and rebuild their future.”
