Neo-Humanism I Env Education I Demonstration Farm I Reforestation I Mangroves I Soil Conservation I Rocket Stoves I Latest
ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
 The protection and rehabilitation of the fragile environmental balance of the NW Artibonite has become one of our greatest priorities. From watershed management and soil conservation to mangrove re-introduction and environmental experiential education our programs increasingly focus on empowering the local communities with the training and support needed to envision, plan, implement, and sustain "green" programs. We have chosen to decentralize our operation in order to allow maximum grassroots involvement, to decrease costs, and to increase the sustainability indicators of each initiative. It is a paradigm shift of sorts, one which has allowed us to increase our ability to respond in a more fluid and flexible manner to the local needs and conditions.
This paradigm shift "happened" organically after we evaluated the negative side-impacts our programs had on the communities we served. We found out that often the linear conventional methodologies we had been using went against the grain of the local culture of "kombit" (volunteer action). Bringing specialists from the outside and relying on centralized tree production, for example, meant higher costs and decreased involvement of the local population. Slowly we shifted to a new approach - decentralizing all of our operations, from rocket stove production to tree nurseries and soil conservation, and empowering local committees to take over their management and maintenance. Nowadays AMURT has acquired a distinctly local taste - local agricultural technicians accepted by and familiar with the area now rotate their visits to more than 7 isolated communities who manage their own tree nurseries and "kombit" initiatives. The reduced costs to the program and its high popularity amongst the local community has increased its sustainability indicators, and has empowered individuals and committees to take charge of the greening of their villages.
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