Accelerated erosion gets the blame—rightly so—for many ecological and social problems, from polluted lakes and rivers to decreased agricultural production to flooding to impaired wildlife habitat.
One nonprofit group, though, is taking the argument much further, claiming that the recent devastating outbreak of cholera in Haiti is directly traceable to that country’s deforestation and the resulting widespread erosion. In part, the line of reasoning goes, erosion leads to polluted drinking water; in addition, the toll that eroding farmland takes on food production leads to a lack of nutrition and a population that is less healthy and more susceptible to disease. Of course, the group acknowledges other causes as well, including poor sanitation and the lack of medical care and infrastructure as the country continues to recover from the effects of a major earthquake.
The group is called Trees for People, and as you’d guess from the name, it encourages the planting of trees, providing both seeds and education for people in areas that are suffering from deforestation. You can read a summary of the group’s argument here and a longer article here.
Years before Haiti’s recent natural disasters, the government recognized deforestation as a major problem, and several groups have been working to reverse its effects, helping people find alternative fuel sources to wood and wood charcoal and encouraging tree-planting. But it’s a slow process.
What do you think—is it reasonable to cite deforestation and erosion as a direct cause for disease?