Haiti’s Challenges Haiti’s President Michel Martelly (“
Sweet Micky”
to his music fans) has been urging the world to view Haiti as a tourist
destination. It certainly used to be. In 1975, Hillary and
Bill Clinton
honeymooned in Haiti, as have countless other couples. More
importantly, Haiti is, for all her heartache, simply magnificent. And it
is worth reminding people that Port-au-Prince is less than a 90-minute
flight from Miami or Fort Lauderdale.
In addition to the country’s extraordinary cultural, historic and
artistic traditions, Haiti possesses a unique ecological situation,
certainly challenged but also, sublime .
The challenges are all too recognizable. Unlike, to the northwest,
neighboring Cuba’s 53 protected areas, 3 of them being World Heritage
Sites
, approximately 22 percent of that country being under
some form of protection; and to the East, the Dominican Republic, with its
67 protected
areas including 16 national parks, a demonstrative network of
eco-tourist sites and