Cuban central province fosters conservation of its wetlands

CIEGO DE AVILA, Cuba, Jan 30 (ACN) The community of Jucaro, site of direct intervention of the international project Mi Costa in Cuba(My Coast), is the focus of the Public Awareness Day for the Conservation of Wetlands in the province of Ciego de Avila, which began in the second half of January and is scheduled to last until February 2.

Yadir Medina Oliva, an educator at the Ramon Dominguez de la Peña Elementary School, the main cultural center of the aforementioned town, told the Cuban News Agency that the program of activities, sponsored by Mi Costa, initially included special matinees, the launching of a contest for pioneers and plastic arts workshops that promote works related to wetlands.

On Monday, January 29, during an educational talk with inhabitants of the community, they highlighted the value of wetlands as reservoirs of biological diversity, regulators of the water cycle and climate, and generators of water resources for fresh water supply, in addition to being areas of use for economic activities such as tourism and fishing.

For the last day of this month, the locals planned a clean-up in the coastal area, mainly aimed at collecting plastic waste, with the objective of reducing contamination by this ductile material, harmful to the health of animals that inhabit marine and terrestrial environments, including human beings, who have in the oceans an important source of food.

Mi Costa -he explained- provided computer and audiovisual equipment, furniture and means for the teaching-learning process that will reinforce the work of environmental awareness in the school and will make it possible to carry out a training program for the community on more than 40 topics to implement solutions to adapt to climate variations and face their consequences.

Evaluating and restoring the conditions of the wetlands in southern Ciego de Avila is one of the purposes of Mi Costa, a global initiative that seeks to restore the hydrological processes within the coastal ecosystem, which includes cleaning canals and actions that will favor the ecological flow of water, including the removal of invasive plant species.

Likewise, reforestation works in mangroves, forests and swamp grasslands are also planned, said Alejandro Gonzalez Diaz, provincial coordinator of the international project.

With financing from the Cuban government and the Green Climate Fund, Mi Costa addresses the main elements of the State Plan to Confront Climate Change (Tarea Vida), as it contemplates actions that will improve water quality, health and human welfare.