CubaPLUS Magazine

Specialists, managers, tour guides, and community leaders from the Cuban provinces of Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara, and Cienfuegos are gathering in Topes de Collantes for the workshop “Toward the Integrated Management of the Guamuhaya National Geopark.”

The Gaviota Tourism Group, in coordination with Cuba’s Ministries of Energy and Mines and of Science, Technology and the Environment, is leading the event, which brings together more than 35 participants.

The three-day meeting seeks to lay the groundwork for creating a governance model for the territory that will ensure the protection of its geological heritage while promoting socioeconomic progress through sustainable and responsible tourism practices.

During the workshop, the geopark’s digital platform will be presented. It incorporates a website and social media networks as tools for management, communication, and promotion.

The coordinating boards of Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara, and Cienfuegos will also meet. Each province includes specific areas of the mountain range, and together they will help establish a national technical team capable of implementing integrated management and harmonizing practices in areas belonging to the National System of Protected Areas.

Sites classified under this system include Topes de Collantes, Lomas de Banao, Hanabanilla, the Yaguanabo Valley, Pico San Juan, Cueva Martín Infierno, El Purial, Aguacate-Boca de Carreras, and Guajimico.

The Guamuhaya National Geopark covers an extensive area of 2,143 square kilometers and is home to 50 geosites of significant heritage value.

Of these, seven are classified as internationally significant, 22 as regionally significant, nine as nationally significant, and 12 as locally significant.

Its natural wealth is complemented by other attractions, including the ruins of the region’s historic coffee plantation architecture, rural traditions, and the Valley of the Sugar Mills in Trinidad.

Cuba’s Council of Ministers granted the area Geopark status in November 2025. With this designation, added to those of Viñales Valley in 2021 and Gran Piedra in 2024, Cuba is positioning itself as a Caribbean leader in managing areas that bring together geological conservation, environmental education, and local socioeconomic development.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which grants this designation internationally, these areas are conceived as “living laboratories” where science, communities, and visitors interact with the history of the Earth.

To date, Cuba has submitted only the dossier for Viñales Valley to the international organization, doing so last year. To be recognized as a Global Geopark, a territory must have clearly defined boundaries and present a development project focused primarily on geotourism, with the benefits contributing to the management and conservation of the area.

(Taken from Prensa Latina)