I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4206 
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to the Govern-
ment 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 assist-
ance 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Haiti Reforestation 
Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
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(1) the established policy of the Federal Gov-
ernment is to support and seek protection of tropical 
forests around the world; 
(2) tropical forests provide a wide range of ben-
efits by— 
(A) harboring a major portion of the bio-
logical and terrestrial resources of Earth and 
providing habitats for an estimated 10,000,000 
to 30,000,000 plant and animal species, includ-
ing species essential to medical research and 
agricultural productivity; 
(B) playing a critical role as carbon sinks 
that reduce greenhouse gases in the atmos-
phere, as 1 hectare of tropical forest can absorb 
up to approximately 3 tons of carbon dioxide 
per year, thus moderating potential global cli-
mate change; and 
(C) regulating hydrological cycles upon 
which agricultural and coastal resources de-
pend; 
(3) tropical forests are also a key factor in re-
ducing rates of soil loss, particularly on hilly terrain; 
(4) while international efforts to stem the tide 
of tropical deforestation have accelerated during the 
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past 2 decades, the rapid rate of tropical deforest-
ation continues unabated; 
(5) in 1923, over 60 percent of the land of 
Haiti was forested but, by 2006, that percentage 
had decreased to less than 2 percent; 
(6) during the period beginning in 2000 and 
ending in 2005, the deforestation rate in Haiti accel-
erated by more than 20 percent over the deforest-
ation rate in Haiti during the period beginning in 
1990 and ending in 1999; 
(7) as a result, during the period described in 
paragraph (6), Haiti lost— 
(A) nearly 10 percent (approximately 
11,000 hectares) of the forest cover of Haiti; 
and 
(B) approximately 22 percent of the total 
forest and woodland habitat of Haiti; 
(8) poverty and economic pressures are— 
(A) two factors that underlie the tropical 
deforestation of Haiti; and 
(B) manifested particularly through the 
clearing of vast areas of forest for conversion to 
agricultural uses; 
(9) the unemployment rate of Haiti is approxi-
mately 80 percent; 
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(10) the per capita income of Haiti is $450 per 
year, which is barely one-tenth of the per capita in-
come of Latin America and the Caribbean; 
(11) two-thirds of the population of Haiti de-
pend on the agricultural sector, which consists main-
ly of small-scale subsistence farming; 
(12) 60 percent of the population of Haiti relies 
on charcoal produced from cutting down trees for 
cooking fuel; 
(13) soil erosion represents the most direct ef-
fect of the deforestation of Haiti, as the erosion 
has— 
(A) lowered the productivity of the land 
due to the poor soils underlying the tropical for-
ests; 
(B) worsened the severity of droughts; 
(C) led to further deforestation; 
(D) significantly decreased the quality and, 
as a result, quantity of freshwater and clean 
drinking water available to the population of 
Haiti; and 
(E) increased the pressure on the remain-
ing land and trees in Haiti; 
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(14) tropical forests provide forest cover to soft-
en the effect of heavy rains and reduce erosion by 
anchoring the soil with their roots; 
(15) when trees are cleared, rainfall runs off 
the soil more quickly and contributes to floods and 
further erosion; 
(16) in 2004, Hurricane Jeanne struck Haiti, 
killing approximately 3,000, and affecting over 
200,000, people, partly because deforestation had re-
sulted in the clearing of large hillsides, which en-
abled rainwater to run off directly to settlements lo-
cated at the bottom of the slopes; 
(17) research conducted by the United Nations 
Environmental Programme has revealed a direct (89 
percent) correlation between the extent of the defor-
estation of a country and the incidence of victims 
per weather event in the country; 
(18) finding economic benefits for local commu-
nities from sustainable uses of tropical forests is 
critical for the long-term protection of the tropical 
forests in Haiti; and 
(19) tropical reforestation efforts would provide 
new sources of jobs, income, and investments in 
Haiti by— 
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(A) providing employment opportunities in 
tree seedling programs, contract tree planting 
and management, sustainable agricultural ini-
tiatives, sustainable and managed timber har-
vesting, and wood products milling and fin-
ishing services; and 
(B) enhancing community enterprises that 
generate income through the trading of sustain-
able forest resources, many of which exist on 
small scales in Haiti and in the rest of the re-
gion. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 
assistance to the Government of Haiti to develop and im-
plement, or improve, nationally appropriate policies and 
actions— 
(1) to reduce deforestation and forest degrada-
tion in Haiti; and 
(2) to increase annual rates of afforestation and 
reforestation in a measurable, reportable, and 
verifiable manner— 
(A) to eliminate within 5 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act any further net 
deforestation of Haiti; and 
(B) to restore within 30 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act the forest cover 
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of Haiti to the surface area that the forest 
cover had occupied in 1990. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development. 
(2) AFFORESTATION.— 
(A) 
IN
GENERAL.—The 
term 
‘‘afforestation’’— 
(i) means the establishment of a new 
forest through the seeding of, or planting 
of trees on, a parcel of nonforested land; 
and 
(ii) includes the seeding of, or plant-
ing of crops (other than trees), such as 
jatropha or vetiver plants, on a parcel of 
nonforested land for soil stabilization pur-
poses. 
(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘afforestation’’ 
includes the introduction of a tree species to a 
parcel of nonforested land of which the species 
is not a native species. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture. 
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TITLE I—FORESTATION ASSIST-
ANCE TO GOVERNMENT OF 
HAITI 
SEC. 101. FORESTATION ASSISTANCE. 
(a) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—In accordance with para-
graph (2), the Secretary, in consultation with the 
Administrator, may offer to enter into agreements 
with the Government of Haiti to provide financial 
assistance, technology transfers, or capacity building 
assistance for the conduct of activities to develop 
and implement 1 or more forestation proposals 
under paragraph (2)— 
(A) to reduce the deforestation of Haiti; 
and 
(B) to increase the rates of afforestation 
and reforestation in Haiti. 
(2) PROPOSALS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for as-
sistance under paragraph (1), the Government 
of Haiti shall submit to the Secretary 1 or more 
proposals that contain— 
(i) a description of each policy and 
initiative to be carried out using the assist-
ance; and 
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(ii) adequate documentation to ensure, 
as determined by the Secretary, that— 
(I) each policy and initiative will 
be— 
(aa) carried out and man-
aged in accordance with widely 
accepted environmentally sustain-
able forestry and agricultural 
practices; and 
(bb) designed and imple-
mented in a manner by which to 
improve the governance of forests 
by building governmental capac-
ity to be more transparent, inclu-
sive, accountable, and coordi-
nated in decisionmaking proc-
esses and the implementation of 
the policy or initiative; and 
(II) each policy and initiative will 
be designed and implemented— 
(aa) to prevent violations of 
human rights and the rights of 
local communities and indigenous 
people; 
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(bb) to prevent harm to vul-
nerable social groups; and 
(cc) to ensure that members 
of local communities and indige-
nous people in affected areas, as 
partners 
and 
primary 
stake-
holders, will be engaged in the 
design, planning, implementation, 
monitoring, and evaluation of the 
policies and initiatives. 
(B) DETERMINATION
OF
COMPATIBILITY 
WITH CERTAIN PROGRAMS.—In evaluating each 
proposal under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
shall ensure that each policy and initiative de-
scribed in the proposal submitted by the Gov-
ernment of Haiti under that subparagraph is 
compatible with— 
(i) broader development, poverty alle-
viation, and natural resource conservation 
objectives and initiatives in Haiti; and 
(ii) the development, poverty allevi-
ation, disaster risk management, and cli-
mate resilience programs of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture. 
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(b) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Any assistance received 
by the Government of Haiti under subsection (a)(1) shall 
be used to implement a proposal developed under sub-
section (a)(2), which may include— 
(1) the provision of technologies and associated 
support for activities to reduce deforestation or in-
crease afforestation and reforestation rates, includ-
ing— 
(A) fire reduction initiatives; 
(B) forest law enforcement initiatives; 
(C) the development of timber tracking 
systems; 
(D) the development of cooking fuel sub-
stitutes; 
(E) initiatives to increase agricultural pro-
ductivity; 
(F) tree-planting initiatives; 
(G) programs that are designed to focus on 
market-based solutions, including programs 
that leverage the international carbon-offset 
market; and 
(H) planting of crops to produce biofuels; 
(2) the enhancement and expansion of govern-
mental and nongovernmental institutional capacity 
to effectively design and implement a proposal devel-
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