Artibonite Valley is a valley predominantly in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, on the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and t ...

. The Artibonite River flows through the valley, with headwaters in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

as well. The valley's

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

provides vital

ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems ...

on which the socio-economic development of one of the poorest areas of the Dominican Republic and Haiti depends. These services have been adversely impacted by deforestation, inappropriate land use, and harmful agricultural practices, which cumulatively have resulted in severe

land degradation Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious ...

and threats to water resources.
Government of the Dominican Republic, Government of Haiti, United Nations Development Programme and Oxfam-Quebec. Reducing conflicting water uses in the bi-national Artibonite River basin through development and adoption of a multi-focal area Strategic Action Programme (UNDP Project Document), retrieved October 28, 2010.

References

Landforms of Haiti {{Haiti-geo-stub