Haiti was once a heavily forested country. Today, 80 percent of Haiti's forests have been cut down, primarily to be burned to create charcoal. The reduction in the number of trees has led to devastating floods when it rains heavily. This is an example of

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The situation in Haiti is a prime example of the tragedy of the commons, where individuals act in their own self-interest and overuse a shared resource (in this case, trees) to the point where it becomes depleted and detrimental to everyone. The fact that this has led to devastating floods is a tragic externality - a negative consequence borne by society as a whole due to an individual's action. However, human greed and lack of a market economic system may also be contributing factors to deforestation, but they are not the primary reason for the problem in Haiti.

Haiti Was Once a Heavily Forested Country