Located in western Cuba, the community of Las Terrazas is widely known across the Caribbean island for its enviable green surroundings and its tourism initiatives developed in perfect harmony with nature, offering a rural experience focused on sustainable development.
Part of the province of Artemisa, this appealing setting extends over some 5,000 hectares along the banks of the beautiful San Juan River, within the Sierra del Rosario Biosphere Reserve.
The community emerged from a project of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched in 1971 with the aim of linking rural communities to their environment and halting the severe deforestation that had existed since the colonial period. That degradation had been caused by nearby copper mining, indiscriminate logging, and coffee plantations.
When the international organization declared the Sierra del Rosario a Biosphere Reserve in 1985, plans began to take shape for renewal and tourism development.
In 1994, the Las Terrazas Tourist Complex was officially created, bringing with it the construction of modern facilities and a transformation of the local economic base, placing emphasis on the service sector, particularly sustainable ecological tourism.
As a result, several facilities were built, including accommodations such as the comfortable colonial style Moka Hotel; restaurants and cafés that offer a variety of flavorful Cuban cuisine; as well as a nautical center and an ecological research center responsible for safeguarding the health of the forest ecosystems.
The site, designed to achieve self managed development of the territory and improve the material and spiritual quality of life of its inhabitants, is also an ideal place to observe farmers, learn about their way of life and traditions, and share experiences with them.
Numerous rivers run through the area, including the San Juan and the Bayate, with natural pools of crystal clear water where visitors can enjoy a peaceful swim.
Hiking in Las Terrazas offers the opportunity to discover part of its past through routes that pass by the ruins of French plantations. Their owners fled the Haitian Revolution in the early nineteenth century and established coffee cultivation here.
Biodiversity is another attraction of the region, with varied wildlife that includes distinctive reptiles such as the water lizard and, among amphibians, one of the smallest frogs in the world, along with around 200 species of birds.
Las Terrazas is also the home of the popular rural singer songwriter Polo Montañez (1955–2002), and it stands out for its rich cultural life. Examples of this are several workshops dedicated to painting, screen printing, ceramics, woodwork, and plant fiber crafts.
Numerous scenic values shaped by mountain ranges and narrow valleys, rivers and streams with beautiful waterfalls, together with abundant evergreen forests, make this area of Cuba an essential place to visit.
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