|
Cuban Expert Stress Need to Protect Regional Biodiversity
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba, July 6
(ACN) Cuban experts gathered in this Eastern city stressed
the need for a regional and multi-national approach to
protect biodiversity in the Caribbean area. As part of the
Caribbean Festival agenda, the experts are holding a
scientific meeting
focusing on environment-related initiatives, such as the
Caribbean Biological Corridor (CBC),
a governmental strategy that includes Cuba, Haiti and the
Dominican Republic.
The CBC is aimed
at reducing the loss of biological diversity in the three
countries, the experts explained.
Doctor Ansel Fong, with the Eastern Ecosystems and
Biodiversity Center, said that joint actions include the
development of seedbeds for the reforestation of Haiti,
which shows the highest degradation levels in the Corridor.
As part of those actions, a school offering knowledge and
information on the environment was set up in Haiti as well,
to educate the local population about reforestation and
sustainable agriculture.
The existence of a high concentration of plants and
vertebrate animals in small areas makes the Caribbean one of
the first 25 regions of the world with great significance
for biodiversity conservation actions.
The three CBC countries have areas serving as nesting places
for migratory birds coming from North America, and since
this is a factor shared by the three nations, it has become
a target for joint conservation strategies, the expert said.
Some 80 percent of the biological species living in Cuba and
the Hispaniola are common to both islands, which were joined
in their geologic past, said expert Orlando Reyes.
|
