Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica
Climate change has also damaged Dominica’s World Heritage Site. Morne Trois Pitons National Park sits amidst the island’s steep mountains that absorbed a direct hit from Hurricane Maria in 2017. An estimated 90% of buildings on the island were damaged by the hurricane.
The forests of Morne Trois Piton were also hit hard, with trees toppled and denuded. The UNESCO report notes that, “While forests here are adapted to hurricanes and will slowly recover over time, the higher frequency and severity of storms may reduce forests’ ability to permanently store the same amount of carbon as they did when disturbances were less frequent and severe.”
That means the shift of Morne Trois Piton from carbon sink to source may become more common in other forests in the path of hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons.
