26 June 2011, Port-au-Prince/Haiti - FAO Goodwill Ambassador and Olympic track legend Carl Lewis ended a two-day visit to Haiti where he saw for himself reforestation efforts to help the country protect itself against flash floods and mudslides as hurricane season begins. Lewis's visit was planned to mark the UN's celebration of the International Year of Forests and followed a similar trip to the neighboring Dominican Republic.
Trees at the epicenter
Lewis travelled to Leogane, near the epicenter of the deadly January 2010 quake that killed almost a quarter of a million people. There he saw for himself Haiti's denuded mountains and visited a Fruit Trees for Haiti school project, part of a larger FAO programme to reforest and shore up watersheds in the region.
As well as suffering terrible earthquake damage, Leogane is a frequent victim of Haiti's often deadly hurricane seasons.
The nine-time Olympic Gold Medalist visited a tree nursery in the grounds of a school that was destroyed by the earthquake. As well as providing planting material, and planting trees themselves, children are taught to value trees, by being made responsible for one of their own.
"Starting with educating kids is a very important step in stopping the cycle of environmental degradation which is now one of the most serious problems facing Haiti," said Lewis.
"What FAO is doing is tremendous and it makes me optimistic to see that Haitians are realizing they have take to take care of their land. Trees are at the epicenter of Haiti's renaissance."