Isle of Youth's mangroves deemed a treasure worth preserving

NUEVA GERONA, Cuba, Sep 10 (ACN) Over a third of the forests in the Isle of Youth is made up of mangroves that provide a natural shelter to many species and a barrier to climate change.

Yordanka Betancourt Gambino, head of the Environment Division of the local office of the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA), said that these ecosystems found along the northern, eastern and western coasts of the Isle of Youth are an “almost unknown universe” for science and a “green paradise” that sustains both terrestrial and marine fauna and about which much remains to be discovered.

“However, the rising sea level and the intensification of hurricanes could put this vital barrier at risk and tamper with an ecosystem already faced with environmental challenges,” she pointed out. “Although Cuba has in place regulations for their protection, their survival also depends on people’s awareness of their crucial importance for the habitat of many species, including humans. Therefore, we need joint efforts to protect this natural treasure whose beauty and biological richness is vulnerable to both human action and climate change”.