PRESS RELEASE 

Haiti Continues Efforts to Restore Degraded Land- through Phase 1 of the
CSIDS SOILCARE Project.

ST. GEORGE’S GRENADA, AUGUST 8, 2025- The Partnership Initiative for Sustainable
Land Management, through its Caribbean Small Island Developing States Sustainable Soil
Management for Integrated Landscape Restoration and Sustainable Food Systems (CSIDS-
SOILCARE) project is assisting Haiti to advance efforts to map and analyze its soils. This will
be accomplished through SOILCARE, a flagship PISLM project, which is funded by the Global
Environment Facility and implemented through support from the Food and Agriculture
Organization.
The undertaking is expected to help the country make headway in achieving Land Degradation
Neutrality.
To help Haiti prepare to undertake this national exercise, on Friday, July 25, 2025, the PISLM
collaborated with the Directorate of Forests and Renewable Energy (DFER) of the Ministry of
the Environment (MdE) to host a hybrid meeting – bringing together departmental, central, and
autonomous directorates, to discuss and agree on the standardization of all the field activities
during sampling.
Director Eder Audate, head of the DFER and National Focal Point for the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), during the meeting, emphasized the need to
strengthen field methodology. He stated that FAO standard operating protocols and procedures,
adapted to Haitian circumstances, will be used for data collection. According to Audate, “These
tools will enable repeated assessment and monitoring of soil properties and quality that will
adhere to international standards.”
Agronomist Joseph Constantin, who also serves as the PISLM’s Project Assistant presented the
project and its modalities, explaining that each participating country must analyze and map its
soils.

Haiti’s National Soil survey will be led by the Haitian Government, through the Ministry of the
Environment (MOE), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and
Rural Development (MARNDR) and the National Center for Geospatial Information (CNIGS) of
the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation (MPCE).
During the workshop, several concerns were raised, particularly regarding travel difficulties due
to insecurity, as well as sample analysis procedures. These concerns were addressed by
consultant Joseph Constantin, Dimitry Norris, Lemeuble Jean François, and Donald André,
executives at the State University of Haiti (UEH), Limonade campus.

These presenters also provided details on the field survey protocol, with an emphasis on the
instruction manual governing campaign management, particularly prior to sample collection.
Project Manager for the CSIDS SOILCARE Project- Trevor Thompson, looks forward to the
implementation of the project. He said, “We are hoping that this exercise can help us to improve
land use planning, enhance agricultural productivity and increase conservation of lands and soils
in Haiti that will result in improved livelihood for its people.”