Cuba concludes approval process for sites of geological interest

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 18 (ACN) The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) announced the completion in the country of the process of approval of sites of geological interest or geosites, from the provinces of Pinar del Rio to Guantanamo.

A total of 484 such areas have been approved, as a result of more than 10 years of work by a group of researchers from the Institute of Geology and Paleontology (Geological Survey of Cuba), announced Enrique Castellanos Abella, PhD in Sciences, Director of Geology of the MINEM.

He added that other national institutions also participated in the work, which carried out the inventory and its evaluation in the whole archipelago, although he clarified that others could be declared, as well as those that already have this condition could be improved.

Castellanos Abella stated that this is a big step in the recognition of Cuba's geological values and mentioned the case that in late 2021 the first Geopark in Viñales was approved, which has already begun to operate.

According to the MINEM expert, in the first quarter of next year the geological-geomorphological study for the valuation of creating a geopark in La Gran Piedra, in Santiago de Cuba, will conclude.

Also on that same date, a similar study will begin in Sierra de Cubitas, in Camagüey province, while in late 2022 another similar one will begin to examine and constitute one in the Guamuhaya massif, in central Cuba, and studies continue assessing the creation of three more.

Nationally, there is a network of natural science museums that hold many geological evidences with a greater specialization, with which their improvement and completion of rocks, minerals and fossils is being managed.