Although I have visited Haiti I wouldn't claim to be an expert in its sights – but, from what I know and have experienced, I would agree with Khuft about its very limited potential for further WHS. Beyond La Citadelle/Sans Souci, Jacmel and the Gingerbread Houses this is/was not a country of physical sights (although there are many wonderful "intangible" ones in the form its peoples' activities and art). Its unfortunate historical trajectory has deprived it of many of the more typical types of "Caribbean Island" sites. The early division of the land into peasant plots after the revolution means that there are no good examples of great estates and houses. At the same time this form of farming, combined with weak government and a soaring population, have resulted in the almost complete destruction of its natural habitats. There are a few other forts, eg Jacques near Port au Prince, but these add nothing to that already on display at the magnificent Citadelle. I had wondered if the Ile de La Tortue (of "Pirates of the Caribbean" fame!!) might offer something (I haven't been there) but, as far as I can make out from guide books and Web, there are no physical remains from that period other than a further fort. Jamaica possesses the other great Caribbean "Pirate Lair" in the form of Port Royal – this will disappoint the casual visitor with just a few ruined walls above ground but, interestingly, Jamaica is majoring on its underwater remains ofr its T List! Whether the Ile de la Tortue would yield more if subject to a proper archaeological excavation I don't know.
It is perhaps instructive to compare Haiti's inscribed and T List with that of its neighbour on the island of Hispaniola – the Dominican Republic (DR). This country too hasn't exactly been a model of good governance over the years but events do seem to have provided it with a wider range of possibilities (albeit, in my view, no "great" unlisted sites). It possesses of course the early Spanish colonial sites associated even with Columbus himself which Haiti does not and there are more to go for. There are also some pre-Columbian (Taino) remains- perhaps not really of WHS significance but the fact that they have been identified and catalogued whilst, to the best of my knowledge none have in nearby Haiti, possibly says something about the academic activity which has taken place on the 2 sides of the island. (Incidentally - since we have recently been discussing the US T list -a potential there might have been one of the Taino sites on Puerto Rico eg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caguana_Ceremonial_Ball_Courts_Site . This proved an interesting site when we visited it many years ago, tieing as it does MesoAmerican culture to that of the Caribbean islands and, via the Taino/Caribs even down into S America itself -but, as far as I am aware, it has never figured in any discussions aobut possible US T List representatation)
Perhaps most notably, the DR's T List contains a number of Natural sites of which Haiti is sadly lacking – these too may not be of "WHS Quality" but that they still exist at all can be traced back to actions taken by its central government in the early 70's to set up National Parks (in 1973 it was predicted that all of the DR's forest would have disappeared by 1990). So DR has 1 World Biosphere Reserve (
http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=DOM+01&mode=all ) whilst Haiti has none!
There are also a number of DR T list sites linked as being on the "Ruta de las Ingenios" (Sugar Mill route). The DR's sugar plantation system might have been exploitative and cruel (and indeed, over the years, it has been significantly staffed by immigrant Haitan labour – anyone interested should read up on the "Parsley Massacre" of 1937 in which possibly 20-30000 Haitans living on the Dominican Republic were killed) but it has resulted in these sites. As stated above, following its revolution Haiti divided its land into peasant plots (King Henri Christophe kept the estates going in the North until his death in 1820) resulting in the death of its sugar industry (apart from production for local hooch!) and, ironically, causing many of its later economic problems. However, both countries are supposed to have been contributing to UNESCO's "Slave Route Project" which might yet yield a major transcontinental serial site including somewhere within Haiti. The UNESCO Web site records meetings of the 2 countries in Santo Domingo to cooperate on this matter and one of these visited Nigua (on the DR's its Ruta de loss Ingenios T List) because of its slavery links. This Web site
http://www.lacult.org/sitios_memoria/Haiti.php?lan=en shows a number of sites (Mouse over the map pins to see the place names and then click to get the details -but it seems to be a very slow site!!) within Haiti which have been identified and catalogued. The sites include La Citadelle and whether any of the others are of WHS potential I know not but I would expect that almost any site would be accepted to ensure a full representation of all ex Slavery countries - even if not really justified individually! The comments genrally seem to indicate that, for long term historical reasons all such remains within Haiti are very badly preserved and even in danger of complete destruction. The Earthquake may not have helped those along the fault line in the south!
Els, you are our "resident expert" on Caribbean history with your thesis on the abolition of Slavery on Curacao (I merely have a first degree in Modern World History from many many years ago)!! Can you add any insights to this subject?
