UN Says Cuba's Capacity in Favor of the Environment is Impressing

HAVANA, Cuba, May 24 (ACN) The Executive Coordinator of the UN Development Program (UNDP), Adriana Dino said on Thursday in Havana that Cuba's institutional capacity in the preservation of the environment is impressive.

In exclusive statements to ACN the UNDP Environment Director said that she has been able to see the dimension of the island's legislations and dedication to its practical application.

Dinu, traveled to Havana for the first time to participate in the 4 th Regional Technical Workshop for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Global Financing Initiative for Biodiversity (BIOFIM) held at the Hotel Nacional.

She praised the island's environmentalists for their work in the institutionalization of the finances destined to the conservation of the biodiversity based on a scientific focus.

Dinu mentioned the existence of its Program and Action Plan, currently in an updating process for the 2015-2020 period that looks to stop the loss nation's natural heritage through its survival and sustainable use.

The UNDP official praised the country's policy contemplated in the State Plan to confront climate change known as Tarea Vida, approved by the Council of Ministers in 2017 to counter the damages caused by the modifications of the climate in the coming years.

Dinu, Master in Sciences in Molecular Genetics and Ecology, expressed her certainty that the UNDP is ready to support Cuba in the implementation of the BIOFIM methodology in the areas of experimentation.

The Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment expressed the island's interest for the UN project.

She added that its application will contribute to foment wellbeing, favor the control of environmental threats and is in tune with the plans of social-economic development.

La Sierra del Rosario (Artemisa) was the first Biosphere Reserve in 1985, followed by the Guanahacabibes Peninsula (Pinar del Rio)' Cuchillas del Toa (Guantanamo-Holguin); Baconao (Santiago de Cuba); Buenavista (Villa Clara, Sancti Spiritus and Ciego de Avila); and Zapata Swamp (Matanzas).

The Biosphere Reserves are distinguished by the UNESCO Humanity and Biosphere Program as demonstrative sites of the Earth's biodiversity and can be inhabited in a sustainable way.