Environmental concerns threaten Haiti

BRUSSELS, April 29 (UPI) -- The continuing degradation of Haiti's environment is threatening to destabilize an already fragile country, a report from the International Crisis Group said.

The Belgium-based non-governmental organization released a report warning of the ongoing risk to the security and stability of Haiti because of severe environmental problems, the Crisis Group reported.

According to a news release, the Caribbean nation's political instability, weak institutions and widespread poverty, combined with the vulnerability posed by ongoing environmental destruction, is a "time bomb that needs urgent attention."

The report, "Haiti: Saving the Environment, Preventing Instability and Conflict," calls on the international community to support efforts to prevent the depletion of Haiti's natural environment.

"Success in environmental rehabilitation depends in large part on good cooperation between those overusing the natural resources and those seeking to better manage them," Markus Schultze-Kraft, Crisis Group Latin America program director, said in a statement.

"The approach to halting and eventually reversing Haiti's environmental problems must contain that same strong social component that is fundamental for reducing the risk of renewed violent conflict."