Cuba will prioritize ecosystem restoration on World Environment Day
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On the occasion of World Environment Day, which is celebrated every June 5, Cuba will concentrate its efforts, like the rest of the world, on the restoration of ecosystems, under the slogan Reimagine your environment, announced on Wednesday authorities of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA), in Havana.
Odalys Goicochea Cardoso, general director of Environment, explained to the press that the activities for the day will be carried out mostly virtually and there will be no headquarters in any province, since the main focus will be on good environmental practices in the country for the restoration of ecosystems.
In this sense, she said that the rehabilitation of sandy beaches, mining areas, degraded areas in agriculture, and mangroves on the southern coast of Artemisa and Mayabeque stand out.
She added that there will be contests aimed at the whole society and different actions in the provinces with the support of the organizations, as well as those linked to the care of biological diversity through the ECOVALOR project.
Similarly, it was reported that the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution will join the campaign Leave your footprint throughout Cuba, in order to encourage the planting of trees in parks and populated places, where in the case of Havana 15 sites have already been identified for planting specimens of caleta grape, ceiba, coconut trees and others.
For Cuba, the directive commented that from 2020 to the present, in spite of the complex epidemiological situation, the work on environmental issues has not stopped, and the pandemic has demonstrated the need to have solid policies in this aspect to face future adverse phenomena.
In addition, she said that 2020 marked the closing of the cycle initiated in 2016 of the National Environmental Strategy, the base document of the nation's environmental policy together with the State Plan to confront climate change, called Tarea Vida (Task Life).
She also referred to the recent approval by the Council of Ministers of the new National Environmental Strategy 2021-2025, which is more concrete and precise than the previous one and defines the main strategic directions and procedures in the territories and sectors.
She argued that it will measure three important indicators: the ecological footprint, the climate resilience index for the Greater Antilles and its environmental quality index.
At the same time, she continued, the Task Life completed its short-term stage last year and was adjusted to the bases of the Economic and Social Development Plan for 2030.
She explained that the National Environmental Strategy was 86 percent completed by the end of 2020, although there are still pending elements related to pollution, where substantial investments are required.
In the case of the Life Task, progress has been made, but it is necessary to continue working on the integrated monitoring of corals and to strengthen the regulatory and legal framework on climate issues, she said.
The specialist alluded that the main environmental problems in Cuba today are the loss of biological diversity and ecosystem damage, damage to forest cover, pollution, the negative impacts of climate change, and the deterioration of the hygienic-sanitary conditions of human settlements.
Adianez Taboada Zamora, vice-minister of CITMA, insisted on the importance of restoring ecosystems as part of this day, which should cover every day of the year because of its impact on the recovery of billions of hectares for access to food, drinking water and employment, as well as species on the verge of extinction.
Data reveal that every three seconds the world loses an area of forest equivalent to a soccer field, and in the last century half of the wetlands and 50 percent of the coral reefs have disappeared.
Experts assure that the planet is one step away from a potentially catastrophic climate change, where the rehabilitation of ecosystems is a global priority for the maintenance of life.
