Environmental Degradation and Migration on Hispaniola Island.

In Haiti, even though many respondents did not perceive environmental but rather economic problems as a major root cause for migration, the environmental threat of a weakened agricultural industry does invoke movement given that agriculture remains to be the main source of income for the majority of the Haitian population. In the Dominican Republic, The main reasons mentioned were the withdrawal of the state from the countryside, the lack of subsidies for the agricultural production and lack of social infrastructure, above all in the schooling system. Environmental degradation, mainly deforestation, soil erosion and the impacts of tropical storms (flooding, landslides) aggravate the existing economic problems and therefore accelerate the decision to migrate.