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PARADISE MAINTAINED
Global Environment Facility confirms
its ongoing support for Jardines del Rey
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY
ALBERTO D. PEREZ —Special for Granma International—
ONE
of the Caribbean’s natural wonders, the Jardines del
Rey archipelago on Cuba’s northern coast, is to
continue enjoying financial and technical assistance
from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for
supporting preservation of the biological and
natural treasures found in that region’s four
ecosystems.
 From
its headquarters in New York, the GEF has confirmed
the designation of funds for the third phase through
the UN Development Program (UNDP).
Previously known as Sabana-Camagüey, the Jardines
del Rey is composed of 2,515 cays — 60% of the total
found in Cuba —, 465 kilometers of coastline, a
marine platform of 8,311 square kilometers and an
exclusive economic zone of 43,800 square kilometers.
According to national and foreign experts, it is an
immensely rich region in terms of biodiversity,
possibly the most important of its kind in the
Caribbean, with a unique tourism potential that
should be managed in harmony with nature.
The
four ecosystems include spectacular beaches of fine
white sand, coastal dunes that are the highest in
all the Caribbean; an inland water system that
serves as a hotel for hundreds of thousands of
migratory birds; and a coral reef with incredibly
beautiful formations that is home to countless
species of fish, chelonians and marine mammals.
Together with the UNDP, the GEF began providing
funds for the Jardines del Rey in 1992, with a first
phase aimed at identifying problems and
opportunities and completing a bio-geophysical,
economic, and social study of the region, which is
characterized by an important development of large
tourist facilities built with safeguards for the
natural environment.
One
of the principal achievements of the 90’s was the
construction of the viaduct that links Cayo Coco to
the main island at Morón in the east-central
province of Ciego de Ávila. The opening of new
waterways put an end to the salinization of the
Bahía de los Perros (Bay of Dogs), a solution
provided by a scientific agency fostered by the
project.
This
agency — with its principal headquarters in Cayo
Coco but which later extended its tasks and
influence over the entire archipelago — is the
Center for Coastal Ecosystems Investigation,
attached to the Ministry of Science, Technology and
the Environment (CITMA), which has progressively
gained recognition among the international
scientific community.
The
second phase of the GEF/UNDP project succeeded in
conserving the prioritized biological areas
identified in the first phase and advancing the
implementation of a scientific approach toward
protecting the wealth of the natural environment.
The
goal of the third phase is to work toward the
sustainability, protection and conservation of the
areas dedicated to tourism, fishing and agriculture,
with an interaction between these uses adhering to
the standards and indicators already established in
the previous phases.
For
this new stage, the GEF earmarked $4,119,498,
bringing the total to date to more than $10 million.
At the same time, the UNDP is contributing $577,000,
together with $92,178 from a Spanish NGO,
ECODESARROLLO, and $652, 000 from the Canadian World
Wildlife Fund. The Cuban government is allocating
$22,032,000 CUC (national currency) to this new
effort.
Susan McDade, resident UN coordinator in Cuba and
UNDP resident representative, emphasized the
importance of the new phase, which will allow “work
beyond the protected areas focused on terrestrial
and marine biodiversity and will introduce
qualitative changes that will substantially improve
the productive sectors and guarantee their
sustainable interaction in a very sensitive
environmental area.”
The concern of the Cuban authorities to guarantee
environmental protection and sustainable tourist
exploitation in Jardines del Rey, together with the
wholehearted support received for this endeavor from
the GEF, the UNDP and diverse actors of
international cooperation, appears to assure that
this natural paradise will continue being one.
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