The lagoons and waterfalls of Oyster Lagoon park in Belle-Anse, Haiti, were designated a protected area in 2017. Its 21 lagoons and striking Cascade Pichon series of waterfalls comprise one of the country’s principal biodiversity hotspots, home to numerous plant and animal species at risk of extinction.

However, with 7 000 families living within the park and dependent on fishing and charcoal production for their living, a project was set up to identify alternative income-generating opportunities that would secure the livelihoods of local people while at the same time reducing pressure on the area’s natural resources. 

The projected adopted a model of participatory governance, creating a management committee formed of representatives of all stakeholders. It has since implemented a variety of activities with impressive results: 

• around 30 % of the 2 000 fishers surveyed now fish in the high seas and earn three times more than before thanks to training, provision of boats, engines and a cold storage facility for their produce; 
• 75 % of farmers living close to an important waterfall have substituted root crop cultivation for agroforestry. 
• mangrove cutting and lizard hunting have been all but eradicated thanks to increased public awareness of the importance of these species in the park; 
• mangrove cover has increased and the number of flamingos has more than tripled in just two years. 

The local authority has also defined new rules on coastal fishing, hunting, protection of water sources and the sale of charcoal. 

The project is part of the larger EU-funded programme: Contributing to preserving marine and coastal biodiversity in the Caribbean Sea basin.

Mangrove cover has increased in the reserve since the project raised awareness of its value