The document provides a list of potential research ideas for improving the environment in Haiti. It identifies ideas in several areas: strengthening governance of the environment ministry and land use policies; boosting the agroforestry sector; improving management of risks and disasters; developing renewable energy; raising environmental education; enhancing waste management; and growing green businesses such as eco-tourism and commercializing natural resources. The research ideas were generated through roundtable discussions with economists and experts aimed at identifying high-impact, cost-effective solutions to Haiti's most pressing environmental challenges.

1. Environment
Research Ideas
Port-au-Prince
March 2016

2. Working with 30-50 economists including Nobel Laureates, 100+ sector experts,
government, donor organizations, civil society, development agencies, businesses,
youth, across rural and urban areas to identify, analyze and prioritize interventions
that will deliver greater benefit per gourde spent, helping move Haiti towards a
more prosperous long term future.

3. Copenhagen Consensus
Center organized roundtable
discussions with an aim to
figure out smarter solutions to
the most problematic issues
facing Haiti.
These roundtables are
one of several sources
for research ideas.

4. Research Ideas

5. Governance;
(1 of 3)
• Strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Environment
in order to be able to fulfill its regulatory function and
benefit from bi- and multilateral resources: Investing
in equipment, tools, materials and frameworks,
including regional directions for environmental impact
studies; Enforce laws and regulations, and to impose
sanctions or other coercive measures; Increase the
number of staff in the MdE; Increase salaries of
departmental managers; Create a space for dialogue
between the Ministry of Environment and other
ministries so that they can coordinate their programs;
Increase the budget of the Ministry of Environment
from 0.7% of national budget currently.

6. Governance;
(2 of 3)
• Develop a plan for the national territory that includes: a
population management plan, a plan for the use of soil,
zoning regulations, urbanization studies, a
development plan and rules and use these policies to
guide the vocation and use of land.
• Strengthen the capacity of Town Councils, CASEC and
ASEC to employ coercive measures against actions and
interventions harmful to the environment.
• Develop regulations and performance standards for
grassroots organizations involved in the environment
sector: standards in terms of management and in terms
of the scope of their interventions / actions in a sub-
sector.

7. Governance;
(3 of 3)
• Create consumers and citizen protection agency.
• Displace and relocate people in disaster-prone and
precarious areas e.g. riverbanks.
• Conduct obligatory environmental impact studies for
medium and large-scale projects.
• Make data on the environment, and information about
interventions being implemented available to the public
• Establish a judicial unit to investigate environmental
crimes.
• Study the potential profitability of land and marine
ecological systems to attract private investment.

8. Agroforestry;
(1 of 1)
• Strengthen value chain of agroforestry so that this
sector becomes an engine of economic growth: form
cooperatives and association; Set performance
standards and regulations for operators in the sector;
Invest in research and development of trees that have a
short period to maturity; public investment to
encourage the creation of companies agroforestry.
• Modify the coal market: Increase the price of coal;
Increase timber production (agroforestry); Reduce the
import of propane and petroleum products.

9. Management of risks and disasters;
(1 of 1)
• Invest in climate adaptation to develop appropriate
ecological systems.
• Create a co-decision mechanism (the state and the
nation) in risk management and disaster.
• R & D to develop seeds / crops resistant to drought.
• Co-creation of a Bill and a strategic plan on the
management of risks and disasters conducted through
holding regular simulation exercises throughout the
country to reduce the impact of disasters.

10. Renewable Energy;
(1 of 1)
• Develop a renewable energy policy to ensure energy
sovereignty of the nation.

11. Educational Measures;
(1 of 1)
• Public awareness on waste management, agriculture
and ecosystems: Create a weekly radio program on the
environment; Integrate / add environmental courses in
the national curriculum from preschool to the
graduating class and integrate young people in the
implementation of interventions developed to meet the
specific needs and priorities of each area / region.

12. Waste Management;
(1 of 1)
• Monetizing or value environmental i.e. waste plastic
materials, paper, metal and glass.
• Develop legislation based on the polluter-pays
principle.
• Implement coercive measures reduce environmental
degradation.
• Develop legislation or policy on the establishment of
waste management centers throughout the country to
process liquid, solid, industrial, biological, chemical and
other waste.
• Develop a public-private partnership policy for waste
management including garbage collection, sorting and
treatment.

13. Green business;
(1 of 2)
• Create a public company to transport and package of
agricultural products in cooperation with the "madan
sara" to reduce crop losses and improve the living
conditions of "madan sara".
• Commercializing natural parks and forests such as Park
Makaya.
• Commercializing environmental products.
• Establish a revenue generation plan for the Ministry of
Environment including the pricing of technical services
provided to the non-public sector.

14. Green business;
(2 of 2)
• Plan of Exploitation of the Sea: structuring the value
chain, conservation, transport, access to urban markets,
the development of norms and standards on the
operation, support to formalize the sector and its
operators and building construction storage.

15. For more information www.HaitiPriorise.com