I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4206 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to the Government of Haiti to end within 5 years the deforestation in Haiti and 

restore within 30 years the extent of tropical forest cover in existence 

in Haiti in 1990, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 3, 2009 

Mr. MEEK of Florida (for himself and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to the Government of Haiti to end within 5 years 

the deforestation in Haiti and restore within 30 years 

the extent of tropical forest cover in existence in Haiti 

in 1990, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Haiti Reforestation 

5 Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the established policy of the Federal Gov2 ernment is to support and seek protection of tropical 

3 forests around the world; 

4 (2) tropical forests provide a wide range of ben5 efits by— 

6 (A) harboring a major portion of the bio7 logical and terrestrial resources of Earth and 

8 providing habitats for an estimated 10,000,000 

9 to 30,000,000 plant and animal species, includ10 ing species essential to medical research and 

11 agricultural productivity; 

12 (B) playing a critical role as carbon sinks 

13 that reduce greenhouse gases in the atmos14 phere, as 1 hectare of tropical forest can absorb 

15 up to approximately 3 tons of carbon dioxide 

16 per year, thus moderating potential global cli17 mate change; and 

18 (C) regulating hydrological cycles upon 

19 which agricultural and coastal resources de20 pend; 

21 (3) tropical forests are also a key factor in re22 ducing rates of soil loss, particularly on hilly terrain; 

23 (4) while international efforts to stem the tide 

24 of tropical deforestation have accelerated during the 


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1 past 2 decades, the rapid rate of tropical deforest2 ation continues unabated; 

3 (5) in 1923, over 60 percent of the land of 

4 Haiti was forested but, by 2006, that percentage 

5 had decreased to less than 2 percent; 

6 (6) during the period beginning in 2000 and 

7 ending in 2005, the deforestation rate in Haiti accel8 erated by more than 20 percent over the deforest9 ation rate in Haiti during the period beginning in 

10 1990 and ending in 1999; 

11 (7) as a result, during the period described in 

12 paragraph (6), Haiti lost— 

13 (A) nearly 10 percent (approximately 

14 11,000 hectares) of the forest cover of Haiti; 

15 and 

16 (B) approximately 22 percent of the total 

17 forest and woodland habitat of Haiti; 

18 (8) poverty and economic pressures are— 

19 (A) two factors that underlie the tropical 

20 deforestation of Haiti; and 

21 (B) manifested particularly through the 

22 clearing of vast areas of forest for conversion to 

23 agricultural uses; 

24 (9) the unemployment rate of Haiti is approxi25 mately 80 percent; 


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1 (10) the per capita income of Haiti is $450 per 

2 year, which is barely one-tenth of the per capita in3 come of Latin America and the Caribbean; 

4 (11) two-thirds of the population of Haiti de5 pend on the agricultural sector, which consists main6 ly of small-scale subsistence farming; 

7 (12) 60 percent of the population of Haiti relies 

8 on charcoal produced from cutting down trees for 

9 cooking fuel; 

10 (13) soil erosion represents the most direct ef11 fect of the deforestation of Haiti, as the erosion 

12 has— 

13 (A) lowered the productivity of the land 

14 due to the poor soils underlying the tropical for15 ests; 

16 (B) worsened the severity of droughts; 

17 (C) led to further deforestation; 

18 (D) significantly decreased the quality and, 

19 as a result, quantity of freshwater and clean 

20 drinking water available to the population of 

21 Haiti; and 

22 (E) increased the pressure on the remain23 ing land and trees in Haiti; 


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1 (14) tropical forests provide forest cover to soft2 en the effect of heavy rains and reduce erosion by 

3 anchoring the soil with their roots; 

4 (15) when trees are cleared, rainfall runs off 

5 the soil more quickly and contributes to floods and 

6 further erosion; 

7 (16) in 2004, Hurricane Jeanne struck Haiti, 

8 killing approximately 3,000, and affecting over 

9 200,000, people, partly because deforestation had re10 sulted in the clearing of large hillsides, which en11 abled rainwater to run off directly to settlements lo12 cated at the bottom of the slopes; 

13 (17) research conducted by the United Nations 

14 Environmental Programme has revealed a direct (89 

15 percent) correlation between the extent of the defor16 estation of a country and the incidence of victims 

17 per weather event in the country; 

18 (18) finding economic benefits for local commu19 nities from sustainable uses of tropical forests is 

20 critical for the long-term protection of the tropical 

21 forests in Haiti; and 

22 (19) tropical reforestation efforts would provide 

23 new sources of jobs, income, and investments in 

24 Haiti by— 


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1 (A) providing employment opportunities in 

2 tree seedling programs, contract tree planting 

3 and management, sustainable agricultural ini4 tiatives, sustainable and managed timber har5 vesting, and wood products milling and fin6 ishing services; and 

7 (B) enhancing community enterprises that 

8 generate income through the trading of sustain9 able forest resources, many of which exist on 

10 small scales in Haiti and in the rest of the re11 gion. 

12 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

13 assistance to the Government of Haiti to develop and im14 plement, or improve, nationally appropriate policies and 

15 actions— 

16 (1) to reduce deforestation and forest degrada17 tion in Haiti; and 

18 (2) to increase annual rates of afforestation and 

19 reforestation in a measurable, reportable, and 

20 verifiable manner— 

21 (A) to eliminate within 5 years after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act any further net 

23 deforestation of Haiti; and 

24 (B) to restore within 30 years after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act the forest cover 


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1 of Haiti to the surface area that the forest 

2 cover had occupied in 1990. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 

7 States Agency for International Development. 

8 (2) AFFORESTATION.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term 

10 ‘‘afforestation’’— 

11 (i) means the establishment of a new 

12 forest through the seeding of, or planting 

13 of trees on, a parcel of nonforested land; 

14 and 

15 (ii) includes the seeding of, or plant16 ing of crops (other than trees), such as 

17 jatropha or vetiver plants, on a parcel of 

18 nonforested land for soil stabilization pur19 poses. 

20 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘afforestation’’ 

21 includes the introduction of a tree species to a 

22 parcel of nonforested land of which the species 

23 is not a native species. 

24 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 TITLE I—FORESTATION ASSIST2 ANCE TO GOVERNMENT OF 

3 HAITI 

4 SEC. 101. FORESTATION ASSISTANCE. 

5 (a) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with para7 graph (2), the Secretary, in consultation with the 

8 Administrator, may offer to enter into agreements 

9 with the Government of Haiti to provide financial 

10 assistance, technology transfers, or capacity building 

11 assistance for the conduct of activities to develop 

12 and implement 1 or more forestation proposals 

13 under paragraph (2)— 

14 (A) to reduce the deforestation of Haiti; 

15 and 

16 (B) to increase the rates of afforestation 

17 and reforestation in Haiti. 

18 (2) PROPOSALS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for as20 sistance under paragraph (1), the Government 

21 of Haiti shall submit to the Secretary 1 or more 

22 proposals that contain— 

23 (i) a description of each policy and 

24 initiative to be carried out using the assist25 ance; and 


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1 (ii) adequate documentation to ensure, 

2 as determined by the Secretary, that— 

3 (I) each policy and initiative will 

4 be— 

5 (aa) carried out and man6 aged in accordance with widely 

7 accepted environmentally sustain8 able forestry and agricultural 

9 practices; and 

10 (bb) designed and imple11 mented in a manner by which to 

12 improve the governance of forests 

13 by building governmental capac14 ity to be more transparent, inclu15 sive, accountable, and coordi16 nated in decisionmaking proc17 esses and the implementation of 

18 the policy or initiative; and 

19 (II) each policy and initiative will 

20 be designed and implemented— 

21 (aa) to prevent violations of 

22 human rights and the rights of 

23 local communities and indigenous 

24 people; 


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1 (bb) to prevent harm to vul2 nerable social groups; and 

3 (cc) to ensure that members 

4 of local communities and indige5 nous people in affected areas, as 

6 partners and primary stake7 holders, will be engaged in the 

8 design, planning, implementation, 

9 monitoring, and evaluation of the 

10 policies and initiatives. 

11 (B) DETERMINATION OF COMPATIBILITY

12 WITH CERTAIN PROGRAMS.—In evaluating each 

13 proposal under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

14 shall ensure that each policy and initiative de15 scribed in the proposal submitted by the Gov16 ernment of Haiti under that subparagraph is 

17 compatible with— 

18 (i) broader development, poverty alle19 viation, and natural resource conservation 

20 objectives and initiatives in Haiti; and 

21 (ii) the development, poverty allevi22 ation, disaster risk management, and cli23 mate resilience programs of the Depart24 ment of Agriculture. 


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1 (b) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Any assistance received 

2 by the Government of Haiti under subsection (a)(1) shall 

3 be used to implement a proposal developed under sub4 section (a)(2), which may include— 

5 (1) the provision of technologies and associated 

6 support for activities to reduce deforestation or in7 crease afforestation and reforestation rates, includ8 ing— 

9 (A) fire reduction initiatives; 

10 (B) forest law enforcement initiatives; 

11 (C) the development of timber tracking 

12 systems; 

13 (D) the development of cooking fuel sub14 stitutes; 

15 (E) initiatives to increase agricultural pro16 ductivity; 

17 (F) tree-planting initiatives; 

18 (G) programs that are designed to focus on 

19 market-based solutions, including programs 

20 that leverage the international carbon-offset 

21 market; and 

22 (H) planting of crops to produce biofuels; 

23 (2) the enhancement and expansion of govern24 mental and nongovernmental institutional capacity 

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1 oped under subsection (a)(2) through initiatives, in2 cluding— 

3 (A) the establishment of transparent, ac4 countable, and inclusive decisionmaking proc5 esses relating to all stakeholders (including af6 fected local communities); 

7 (B) the promotion of enhanced coordina8 tion among ministries and agencies responsible 

9 for agroecological zoning, mapping, land plan10 ning and permitting, sustainable agriculture, 

11 forestry, and law enforcement; and 

12 (C) the clarification of land tenure and re13 source rights of affected communities, including 

14 local communities and indigenous peoples; and 

15 (3) the development and support of institutional 

16 capacity to measure, verify, and report the activities 

17 carried out by the Government of Haiti to reduce de18 forestation and increase afforestation and reforest19 ation rates through the use of appropriate methods, 

20 including— 

21 (A) the use of best practices and tech22 nologies to monitor any change in the forest 

23 cover of Haiti; 

24 (B) the monitoring of the impacts of poli25 cies and initiatives on— 


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1 (i) affected communities; 

2 (ii) the biodiversity of the environment 

3 of Haiti; and 

4 (iii) the health of the tropical forests 

5 of Haiti; and 

6 (C) independent and participatory forest 

7 monitoring. 

8 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE METRICS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary provides as10 sistance under subsection (a)(1), in accordance with 

11 paragraph (2), the Secretary, in cooperation with 

12 the Government of Haiti and, if necessary, in con13 sultation with the Administrator, shall develop ap14 propriate performance metrics to measure, verify, 

15 and report— 

16 (A) the conduct of each policy and initia17 tive to be carried out by the Government of 

18 Haiti; 

19 (B) the results of each policy and initiative 

20 with respect to the tropical forests of Haiti; and 

21 (C) each impact of each policy and initia22 tive on the local communities and indigenous 

23 people of Haiti. 

24 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Performance metrics de25 veloped under paragraph (1) shall, to the maximum 


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1 extent practicable, include short-term and long-term 

2 metrics to evaluate the implementation of each pol3 icy and initiative contained in each proposal devel4 oped under subsection (a)(2). 

5 (d) REPORTS.— 

6 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 18 

7 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

8 Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees 

9 of Congress a report that describes the actions that 

10 the Secretary has taken, and plans to take— 

11 (A) to engage with the Government of 

12 Haiti, nongovernmental stakeholders, and pub13 lic and private nonprofit organizations to imple14 ment this section; and 

15 (B) to enter into agreements with the Gov16 ernment of Haiti under subsection (a)(1). 

17 (2) BIENNIAL REPORTS.—Not later than 2 

18 years after the date on which the Secretary first pro19 vides assistance to the Government of Haiti under 

20 subsection (a)(1) and biennially thereafter, the Sec21 retary shall submit to Congress a report that de22 scribes the progress of the Government of Haiti in 

23 implementing each policy and initiative contained in 

24 the proposal submitted under subsection (a)(2). 


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1 (e) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 

2 provide financial and other assistance to nongovernmental 

3 stakeholders to ensure— 

4 (1) the access by local communities and indige5 nous people to information relating to each policy 

6 and initiative to be carried out by the Government 

7 of Haiti through funds made available under sub8 section (a)(1); and 

9 (2) that the groups described in paragraph (1) 

10 have an appropriate opportunity to participate effec11 tively in the design, implementation, and inde12 pendent monitoring of each policy and initiative. 

13 (f) NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION.—At the 

14 election of the Government of Haiti, or on the determina15 tion of the Secretary, in cooperation with the Government 

16 of Haiti, the Government of Haiti may enter into an 

17 agreement with a private, nongovernmental conservation 

18 organization authorizing the organization to act on behalf 

19 of the Government of Haiti for the purposes of this sec20 tion. 

21 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec23 essary to carry out this section. 


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1 TITLE II—GRANTS FOR 

2 REFORESTATION 

3 SEC. 201. REFORESTATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in consulta5 tion with the Administrator, shall establish a grant pro6 gram to carry out the purposes of this Act, including re7 versing deforestation and improving reforestation and 

8 afforestation in Haiti. 

9 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

11 to award grants and contracts to public and private 

12 nonprofit organizations to carry out projects that, in 

13 the aggregate, reverse deforestation and improve re14 forestation and afforestation. 

15 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

17 subparagraph (B), the Secretary may not 

18 award a grant under this section in an amount 

19 greater than $1,000,000 per year. 

20 (B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may 

21 award a grant under this section in an amount 

22 greater than $1,000,000 per year if the Sec23 retary determines that the recipient of the 

24 grant has demonstrated success with respect to 


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1 a project that was the subject of a grant under 

2 this section. 

3 (3) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award 

4 grants under this section for a period not to exceed 

5 3 years. 

6 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded pursuant to 

8 subsection (b) may be used for activities such as— 

9 (A) providing a financial incentive to pro10 tect trees; 

11 (B) providing hands-on management and 

12 oversight of replanting efforts; 

13 (C) focusing on sustainable income-gener14 ating growth; 

15 (D) providing seed money to start coopera16 tive reforestation and afforestation efforts and 

17 providing subsequent conditional funding for 

18 such efforts contingent upon required tree care 

19 and maintenance activities; 

20 (E) promoting widespread use of improved 

21 cooking stove technologies and the development 

22 of liquid biofuels, to the extent that neither re23 sults in the harvesting of tropical forest growth; 

24 and 


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1 (F) securing the involvement and commit2 ment of local communities and indigenous peo3 ples— 

4 (i) to protect tropical forests in exist5 ence as of the date of enactment of this 

6 Act; and 

7 (ii) to carry out afforestation and re8 forestation activities. 

9 (2) CONSISTENCY WITH PROPOSALS.—To the 

10 maximum extent practicable, a project carried out 

11 using grant funds shall support and be consistent 

12 with the proposal developed under section 101(a)(2) 

13 that is the subject of the project. 

14 (d) APPLICATION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant 

16 under this section, an entity shall prepare and sub17 mit an application at such time, in such manner, 

18 and containing such information as the Secretary 

19 may reasonably require. 

20 (2) CONTENT.—Each application submitted 

21 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

22 (A) a description of the objectives to be at23 tained; 

24 (B) a description of the manner in which 

25 the grant funds will be used; 


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1 (C) a plan for evaluating the success of the 

2 project based on verifiable evidence; and 

3 (D) to the extent that the applicant in4 tends to use nonnative species in afforestation 

5 efforts, an explanation of the benefit of the use 

6 of nonnative species over native species. 

7 (3) PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN PROJECTS.—In 

8 awarding grants under this section, the Secretary 

9 shall give preference to applicants that propose— 

10 (A) to develop market-based solutions to 

11 the difficulty of reforestation in Haiti, including 

12 the use of conditional cash transfers and similar 

13 financial incentives to protect reforestation ef14 forts; 

15 (B) to partner with local communities and 

16 cooperatives; and 

17 (C) to focus on efforts that build local ca18 pacity to sustain growth after the completion of 

19 the underlying grant project. 

20 (e) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec21 retary shall collect and widely disseminate information 

22 about the effectiveness of the demonstration projects as23 sisted under this section. 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec3 essary to carry out this section. 

4 SEC. 202. FOREST PROTECTION GRANTS. 

5 Chapter 7 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act 

6 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2281 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

7 after section 466 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 467. PILOT PROGRAM FOR HAITI. 

9 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF LIST OF AREAS OF SEVERELY

10 DEGRADED NATURAL RESOURCES.—The Administrator 

11 of the Agency for International Development, in coopera12 tion with nongovernmental conservation organizations, 

13 shall invite the Government of Haiti to submit a list of 

14 areas within the territory of Haiti in which tropical forests 

15 are seriously degraded or threatened. 

16 ‘‘(b) REVIEW OF LIST.—The Administrator shall as17 sess the list submitted by the Government of Haiti under 

18 subsection (a) and shall seek to reach agreement with the 

19 Government of Haiti for the restoration and future sus20 tainable use of those areas. 

21 ‘‘(c) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

22 ‘‘(1) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Adminis23 trator of the Agency for International Development 

24 is authorized to make grants, in consultation with 

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1 ment of Agriculture and on such terms and condi2 tions as may be necessary, to nongovernmental orga3 nizations for the purchase on the open market of 

4 discounted commercial debt of the Government of 

5 Haiti in exchange for commitments by the Govern6 ment of Haiti to restore tropical forests identified by 

7 the Government under subsection (a) or for commit8 ments to develop plans for sustainable use of such 

9 tropical forests. 

10 ‘‘(2) MANAGEMENT OF PROTECTED AREAS.— 

11 Each recipient of a grant under this subsection shall 

12 participate in the ongoing management of the area 

13 or areas protected pursuant to such grant. 

14 ‘‘(3) RETENTION OF PROCEEDS.—Notwith15 standing any other provision of law, a grantee (or 

16 any subgrantee) of the grants referred to in section 

17 (a) may retain, without deposit in the Treasury of 

18 the United States and without further appropriation 

19 by Congress, interest earned on the proceeds of any 

20 resulting debt-for-nature exchange pending the dis21 bursements of such proceeds and interest for ap22 proved program purposes, which may include the es23 tablishment of an endowment, the income of which 

24 is used for such purposes. 


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1 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec3 essary to carry out this section.’’. 

Æ 


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