Wynne Farm – an ecological retreat near Port au Prince

Thanks to tour group Voyages Lumière, I visited the Wynne Farm located in Kenscoff, a 1.5 hour drive from Port au Prince.  I am eager to share this find with everyone interested in ecology and environmental education in Haiti.  More pictures can be seen on the Audubon Center of Les Cayes website.  

The farm is a mix of sustainable agriculture and preserved forests, and an excellent place to bring a school group or agronomy students to learn about conservation.  Janey Wynne’s father started the farm in 1950s, and the contrast to the surrounding deforested hills is striking.  Wynne Farm shows what Haiti could look like if conservation was a priority.

Tour details: Contact Voyages Lumière to arrange transportation.  Or contact the farm directly at info@wynnefarm.org.  Allow for three hours at the farm if you really want to explore and take pictures or go birding.  The early morning would be best for birding.  With a 8:45a pick up near the US Embassy, we arrived at the farm itself by 10:30a, driving most of the way to it, with the final stretch a walk down a very steep paved road (difficult if you have bad knees!).  An agronomy student doing his internship at the farm, Michard, gave me a tour of the farm, then left me to explore.  We left the farm around 1:30 and were back at the truck by 2p.

  

Clouds drifting through the cool forest.

Decomposition in action.

The forests of Wynne Farm in the background, deforested land in the foreground.

Eroded hillsides outside the farm boundary.

Agriculture on deforested hills surrounding the farm.