4.3.3. For the Public

An integrated and sustainable managemen<sup>t</sup> of the landscape is therefore a very important issue. To achieve this, the populations will have to become involved in the conservation of (semi-)natural ecosystems in the urban and peri-urban landscape of the Port-au-Prince agglomeration, as vegetation directly influences the urban soil and climate while providing beneficial ecosystem services to city dwellers [9,42]. It is important to diversify energy

sources and to adopt new techniques and practices to reduce the collection of wood for energy production, as wood resources tend to decrease along the urban–rural gradient of Port-au-Prince. The scarcity of wood resources bears socioeconomic consequences: the lack of wood energy limits the amount of food cooked and therefore has consequences for nutrition and health, loss of jobs, and income for charcoal producers. It should be noted that the rapid development of the charcoal network is a popular reaction to the lack of alternative energy sources, particularly electricity, in Haitian cities [58]. Participatory land use mapping is urgently needed and the population should be made aware of the preservation of agricultural and (semi-)natural areas in view of the various socio-ecological benefits they provide. Urban fragmentation through building densification should be controlled in urban areas, as it could pose a threat to the preservation of vegetation in the plots.
