CubaPLUS Magazine

In recent years, with priority, although not as quickly as urgently needed, due to the serious limitations of our economy, the Living Mangrove Project has advanced in Cuba, one of the axes of the Life Task conceived by the Institute of Ecology for Development and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA), as the leading institution, supported by international financial funds and the backing of the UNDP (UN Development Fund).

During these days in which the XXVII International Conference on Climate Change was held in Egypt, Cuba was proud to reaffirm that it does not in any way relegate this program and others aimed at mitigating the ravages of global warming and raising awareness for the health of the planet and resilience and security of the most vulnerable, although we are far from being among the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Living Mangrove Project, in particular, is vital for the survival of the nation, due to the increase in the level of ocean waters caused by the progressive melting of glaciers and polar ice caps. It is a multisectoral plan that also involves institutions such as the Ministry of Agriculture, the Institute of Hydraulic Resources, the educational sector and local authorities.

A colossal effort is required due to the obvious reality that mangroves occupy almost 26 percent of the forested area of the country, and are present in two thirds of all its coastlines. They are a formidable protective barrier that defends us against the ferocious waves of hurricanes and storms, the erosion of the winds, and at the same time a laboratory of life, whose roots generate rich sediments where there is a variety of marine species such as crustaceans, mollusks and fishes. Managed with measure and planning, and promoted with science, its wood is valuable for obtaining charcoal and has medicinal use in the case of the so-called red mangrove.

But man has historically overexploited or totally eliminated those essential environments that are the mangroves, which in turn occupy five percent of the coastlines. These valuable ecosystems are not yet living their best moment because their biological and ecological importance was ignored for too long.







Life Task promises that saving the mangroves, with no time to lose, is an endeavor that is already bearing fruit, despite what is still to come. It will be achieved with the support of legal documents, science and work that protect the existence of Cuban mangroves in the country.