Hispaniola Island. (Dominican Republic and Haiti) Case Study Report.

In Haiti, the high grade of deforestation, soil erosion and land degradation strongly influences the migration decisions as the economic basis and consequently the livelihood of a big share of the population is threatened or even completely destroyed. In the Dominican Republic, the main reasons for migration 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.