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Cuban Environmental Conservation Strategies Assessed |
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Friday, 06 May 2011 09:06
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 In order to preserve the protected areas of Cuba intended for tourism activities, specialists from the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) of the central region of the country shared experiences on dissimilar sustainable strategies implemented in the Sabana-Camagüey archipelago for the conservation of biodiversity, mainly on vulnerable ecosystems.
Based in Morón hotel, located in the municipality of the same name, north of the central province of Ciego de Avila, the meeting dealt with the potential of the island to promote tourism in a sustainable way, mitigate environmental impacts and generate income in foreign currency for preservation of the environment.
The workshop also allowed the exchange of criteria related to tourist options designed last year in the provinces of Villa Clara, Sancti Spñiritus, Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey, one of the tasks carried out by the UNDP / GEF Sabana-Camagüey, which have good acceptance among customers due to the direct connection to the natural environment.
Those tourist options include visits to the Caguanes National Park and the Jobo Rosado Managed Resource Protected Area, in Sancti Spíritus; the Los Caimanes National Marine Park, in Villa Clara; the Máximo River Wildlife Refuge, in the Camagüey province, as well as Laguna la Redonda, the Cunagua hill, the San Pedro farm and the crocodile breeding farm in Ciego de Ávila.
"Here we have presented new experiences that may spread throughout the country, according to the characteristics of each region, but it largely depends on the decision makers and the public policies implemented on the use of natural resources" said Rado Barsev, a consultant in Environmental Economics of the Sabana-Camagüey Project.
"In most of these places there are either tourist and recreational facilities or nearby communities where main activities are related to fishing, agriculture or stockbreeding, for which reason we insist on proper management of ecosystems.
"It is not just to develop tourism as the main source of foreign exchange income, but to design better economic activities within protected areas", he added.
He noted that the initiatives submitted require mechanisms allow long-term financing, hence the need to improve and publish each methodology, so it may serve as a basic bibliography for the implementation of other tourism products.
The meeting was also attended by teachers of the hotel and tourism schools of the provinces involved in the Sabana-Camagüey Project and specialists of the Sustainable Tourism Development Center.
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