Grand Bois Rainforest Reserve

Morne Grand Bois (1248 m) is an isolated mountain in southwestern Haiti with original forest and a remarkable biodiversity only recently revealed. It is the highest mountain west of Les Anglais in the Département du Sud, and second highest (after Deux Mamelles, 1270 m) in all of the Tiburon Peninsula west of a line between Jérémie and Les Anglais. It is unusual in having an elevated, bowl-shaped valley oriented towards the west, and in having a large area (195 hectares) above 1000 m, with significant tracts of original forest and at least one spring. Accessibility is difficult, and therefore a helicopter was used to conduct biological surveys of the mountain in 2011 and 2013. The forests are being cut for building materials, slash-and-burn agriculture, and charcoal. We are continuing to learn more about the specific threats, methods used, and types of foods grown, so that we can help educate local inhabitants in better land use practices. SAH continued to collect socio-economic data during 2013 to determi