[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 154 (Thursday, October 31, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7717-S7718]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HAITI AND ARMENIA REFORESTATION ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it is an unfortunate reality--perhaps 
bordering on negligence--that Congress has been unable to do something 
about climate change.
  How will our grandchildren look back at our inaction when they 
inherit a changed planet--one that we found too politically 
inconvenient to help avoid?
  Thankfully, this President has shown leadership on this issue, but we 
must do more.
  Recently, I offered a simple piece of legislation--one that has 
traditionally been very bipartisan--that can help take another common 
sense step and at the same time improve the lives of millions overseas.
  The bill helps two friends of the United States overcome the 
devastating impacts of deforestation: Haiti and Armenia.
  Our forests provide resources for almost two-thirds of all species on 
the planet, offering shelter, food, fresh water, and medicines. Forests 
help with biodiversity, water conservation, soil enrichment, and 
climate regulation.
  Forests cover 30 percent of the world's land area, but we still lose 
swaths the size of entire countries--about 12-15 million hectares--each 
year.
  In fact, approximately 76 percent of our world's original primary 
forests have been destroyed or degraded. And deforestation alone 
accounts for up to 20 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions 
that contribute to global warming.
  That is because forests take carbon out of the air, and in turn, 
replenish the atmosphere with oxygen. Forests help settle out or trap 
dust, ash, smoke, and other harmful pollutants. They offer water 
through an evaporation process and shade to hundreds of thousands of 
species.
  If deforestation continues at this staggering level, we lose one of 
the planet's most important weapons in stabilizing the global climate.
  And deforestation in Haiti and Armenia hurts far more than the global 
climate--deforestation is a factor in economic, agricultural, health, 
and environmental problems.
  An already struggling country, Haiti was hit hard by the massive, 
January 2010 earthquake.
  More than 200,000 people were killed, and an estimated 1.5 million 
were displaced. A staggering number of houses and buildings simply 
collapsed.
  The subsequent cholera outbreak claimed over 8,000 lives and infected 
hundreds of thousands more.
  While Americans and people from all over the world donated money, 
organized shipments of medicines and supplies, and even traveled to 
Haiti as emergency relief workers helped rescue and treat victims, 
there is an important piece of the puzzle that has been receiving 
little attention--the role of deforestation.
  When you look at the lush green of the Dominican Republic and compare 
it to the stark desolation on Haiti's side of the border, it is easy to 
see why Haiti is so much more vulnerable to soil erosion, landslides, 
and flooding than its neighbor.
  In 1923, Haiti's tropical forest covered 60 percent of the country. 
Today, less than 2 percent of those forests remain.
  Deforestation induces soil erosion and landslides, making land more 
vulnerable to floods and mudslides. In a place such as Haiti, already 
scarce agricultural land is rendered all the less productive.
  These issues are exacerbated by natural disasters such as the 2010 
earthquake or the many tropical storms Haiti has faced in recent years.
  I remember on a previous visit to Haiti that there was a strong rain 
during the evening in the capitol of Port au Prince. I mentioned the 
rain casually to our Haitian hotel host and she said that in the 
morning several people would be dead from the rain.
  I was puzzled--from the rain?
  Yes, the mountains around Port au Prince have been so deforested that 
a simple downpour leads to deadly mudslides.
  Former Haitian Prime Minister, Michele Pierre-Louis, said it so 
aptly:

       ``The whole country is facing an ecological disaster. We 
     cannot keep going on like this. We are going to disappear one 
     day. There will not be 400, 500 or 1,000 deaths [from 
     hurricanes]. There are going to be a million deaths.''

  Mr. President, when I visited Armenia last year, I found a similar 
problem. I had the opportunity to drive through the Armenian 
countryside for several hours en route from Georgia. What I saw in this 
otherwise proud country was devastating.
  While archaeological data suggests that approximately 35 percent of 
Armenia was originally forested, less than 8 percent of its forests 
remain today.
  In recent years, increasing bouts of heavy rainfall, landslides, and 
floods have endangered hundreds of communities in Armenia and cost 
millions in damages. On the other hand, record droughts have threatened 
more than two-thirds of the nation by desertification as natural tree 
cover continues to diminish.
  Groups such as the Armenia Tree Project have focused on reforestation 
efforts in northern Armenia because it suffered a significant loss of 
forest cover in the early 1990s.
  Mr. President, deforestation is brought on by a number of reasons-- 
making land available for urbanization, plantation use, logging, 
mining--and illegal logging and mining--and others.
  Poverty and economic pressures also play significant roles; 80 
percent of the population of Haiti and 36 percent of the population of 
Armenia live below the poverty line, and wood and charcoal produced 
from cutting down trees accounts for a major--and relatively cheap--
supply toward the energy sectors of both nations.
  But the implications of deforestation are disastrous. These forests, 
if protected and regrown, would fight the destructive effects of soil 
erosion.
  They would help protect freshwater sources from contaminants, would 
safeguard irrigable land, and would save lives during natural 
disasters. Helping these nations deal with their deforestation 
problem--one that impacts the entire planet given the rise in 
greenhouse gas emissions--is not only the right thing to do, it is the 
smart thing to go with our limited assistance dollars.
  Every dollar we put into reforestation in these hard-hit countries 
pays itself back in economic, health, and environmental returns.
  That is why Senators Brown, Cardin, Feinstein, and Whitehouse have 
joined me in introducing the Haiti and Armenia Reforestation Act to 
help address the deforestation challenge.
  The bill aims to restore within 20 years the forest cover of Haiti to 
at least seven percent and the forest cover of Armenia to at least 12 
percent, about each country's respective levels in 1990.
  Within 7 years of enactment, the bill also aims to restore the social 
and economic conditions for the recovery of 35 percent of both 
countries' land surfaces and to help improve sustainable management of 
key watersheds.
  A number of groups and organizations are already on the ground 
working toward these goals in Haiti, and a few in Armenia such as the 
Armenia Tree Project I mentioned earlier, but more needs to be done to 
help support

[[Page S7718]]

these efforts in a coordinated manner and with backing from both the 
Governments of Haiti and Armenia and of the United States.
  While it is important to start putting trees in the ground, this bill 
is about more than just planting trees. Our government has tried that 
approach in the past and it has proven to be ineffective.
  This bill empowers the U.S. Government to work with Haiti and Armenia 
to develop forest-management programs based on proven, market-based 
models.
  These models will be tailored to help both countries manage their 
conservation and reforestation efforts in ways that can be measured.
  The bill encourages cooperation and engagement with local communities 
and organizations, provides incentives to protect trees through income-
generating growth, and authorizes debt-for-nature swaps, focusing on 
sustainable restoration of forests, watersheds, and other key land 
surface areas.
  Most importantly, the bill does not authorize any new funds. It will 
help make sure such existing funds are spent wisely and productively.
  It will help the people of Haiti and Armenia rebuild their critical 
ecosystems, which in turn will have tremendous long-term impacts on 
their qualities of life.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort.

                          ____________________