A strategic meeting was held this week between Jean François Thomas, Director General of the National Agency for Protected Areas (ANAP) and Ulrick Bain, Departmental Director of the West of the Ministry of the Environment.

This meeting aimed to strengthen collaboration between the two entities with a view to more effective environmental management, both on the cyclical and structural aspects.

Several points were at the center of the discussions :

- The urgency of slowing down the accelerated degradation of protected areas in the West department, by developing innovative and adapted approaches;

- The implementation of concerted actions in a dynamic of integrated management of the protected areas of the department;

- The regularization of the Brigade for Surveillance of Protected Areas (BSAP), an essential pillar for the protection and preservation of these sensitive areas.

Furthermore, with the approach of the forest fire season (January to August), these joint interventions will include prevention and fuel management, awareness and training campaigns, as well as active control actions such as early detection and rapid response to fires.

In parallel, an inter-institutional collaboration process has been initiated between the Ministries of Justice, Environment and Defense. This process aims to formalize a memorandum of understanding for the regularization of the BSAP, which currently has 3,000 volunteer agents according to the latest ANAP census.

IH/ iciHaiti