Building a future for Haiti’s unique biodiversity Tuesday 2
March 2010 ZSL, in partnership with BirdLife International and
the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, has secured funding
from Defra’s Darwin Initiative in support of vital conservation
action to prevent the extinction of Haiti’s unique biodiversity.
Haiti’s forests support an incredible diversity of range-
restricted endemic animals. However, only 3% remain and these
are being lost at a rate of 10% every five years, with the
result that many species are globally threatened or even
possibly extinct. The Massif de la Hotte is a mountainous area
in south-westernmost Haiti, and is one of the few areas still
retaining a patchwork of forest cover, all within the Macaya
National Park. These forests represent one of the most important
places in the world for the conservation of 42 globally
threatened mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians that live
there. The forests of the Massif de la Hotte also provide
important ecosystem services for local communities