Morne Basile
Overview
Morne Basile is an isolated, narrow ridge in northern Haiti, oriented northwest-to-southeast. It is 1477 meters in elevation at its highest point, and 4071 hectares of land are above 800 meters elevation (1650 hectares above 1000 m). As with Morne Boeuf, a brief visit by biologists in 2011, using a helicopter, found that tree-cutting had occurred throughout the mountain, and there was little remaining original forest. Nonetheless, a plant species known only from this mountain, and not seen for almost a century, was found in forest pockets near the ridge top, along with a relatively small number of native vertebrates including 4 species of reptiles and 8 species of birds. Some patches of forest exist on steep slopes around Morne Basile and may contain additional endemic species and even new species. The mountain lacks any protection measures.

Flat top of Morne Basile (Photo Credit: S. Blair Hedges)
Snail Liguus virgineus Photo Credit: Miguel Landestoy Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus Photo Credit: Jurgen Hoppe Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis Photo Credit: S. Blair Hedges Jamaican Fruit Bat Artibeus jamaicensis Photo Credit: Miguel Landestoy Endemic plant Miconia krugii Photo Credit: S. Blair Hedges Plant species rediscovered Miconia basilensis Photo Credit: Eladio Fernandez