ENVIRONMENT: Cuba Encourages Ecotourism in
Largest Wetland
By Patricia Grogg*
CIÉNAGA DE ZAPATA, Cuba (Tierramérica)
- The Zapata wren (Ferminia cerverai) is
known in Cuba as the "soprano of the forest"
for its lovely song. But this tiny bird is
very timid and, at the slightest sound, will
hide in the vegetation in the Cienaga de
Zapata - Zapata Swamp - 160 km south of
Havana on the island’s south-central coast.
To see and hear the little bird that is
endemic to the swamp - the largest and
best-preserved Caribbean island wetlands -
is often a goal of visitors to this area,
which so far is relatively unexplored by
foreign tourists, who usually come for sun
and beach vacations.
But tourism officials have decided to open
the doors to travellers who are seeking
something more than a good tan.
"We have four well-appointed hotels for
nature-loving tourists, interested in
hiking, bird-watching, diving or sport
fishing," Estanislao Rodríguez, commercial
director of the tourist outfitter Cubanacán
in the Cienaga, told Tierramérica.
This vast and sparsely populated
municipality on the southern coast of
Matanzas province is home to no less than 65
percent of Cuba's bird species, 1,000 plant
species and native amphibians, like the
highly endangered Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus
rhombifer), only found in the Cienaga and
Cuba's Isla (island) de la Juventud.
From late November to March, at the
environmental station of Las Salinas it is
possible to see 65 migratory bird species
escaping the cold winter temperatures in
Canada and the United States.
The Cienaga, declared a biosphere reserve in
2000 and a protected wetland site under the
international Ramsar convention in 2001, has
a diversity of ecosystems, including swamps,
rivers, lagoons, grasslands, mangroves,
semi-deciduous, evergreen and sub-coastal
forests, coral reefs and caves.
The area is visited by 100,000 tourists a
year. An advertising campaign is under way
to bring in more visitors, primarily from
Europe, which still has a strong demand for
specialised travel.
The long-anticipated opening of travel from
the United States, which is still subject to
the 47-year-old embargo that prevents U.S.
citizens from freely visiting Cuba, could
drive up demand for ecotourism, and bring
with it potentially dangerous impacts on the
wetlands.
As for that possibility, Cuba's Tourism
Minister Manuel Marrero told Tierramérica
that the bulk of tourists "have to go to the
beaches." The development of ecotourism to
which Cuba aspires will be based on maximum
numbers of visitors established for each
site, he added.
It is increasingly necessary to diversify
Cuba's products, and nature tourism provides
one such opportunity, but it will be done in
a "sustainable" way, said Marrero at an
international meeting aimed at promoting the
Cienaga de Zapata as a travel destination.
Pablo Bouza, director of the Cienaga de
Zapata National Park, which extends over
almost the wetlands area of 600,000 square
km, also told Tierramérica that steps have
been taken to ensure that tourism here "is
not massive, but sustainable."
"Since we decided to make public use of
these protected areas, their capacity for
nature tourism has been studied... There are
instruments for measuring the effectiveness
of management for each activity, with
evaluations carried out twice a year," he
explained.
By way of example, Bouza cited the case of
hiking in the wetlands' lagoon and cave
system, where only three of a total of 90
flooded caverns will be open to visitors.
Furthermore, on each visit, no more than
seven people can enter, with a maximum of 15
people a day.
Officials also have faith in the close
relationship between the tourism industry
and the government agencies for
environmental protection.
Research studies propose the adoption of
legislation to oversee compliance with
existing regulations, better coordination of
all sectors involved in tourism, and
financial support to implement sustainable
management and newer "green" technologies.
Twenty-two percent of Cuban territory is
under some category of environmental
protection, based on the value of its
biodiversity. Along with the Cienaga de
Zapata, other standouts are the biosphere
reserves in Guanahacabibes and Sierra del
Rosario, in the western province of Pinar
del Río.
There are also biosphere reserves in
Buenavista, in the Jardines del Rey
archipelago, off of central Cuba, and in
Baconao and Cuchillas del Toa in the east.
But despite Cuba's great natural riches, the
environmental component represents just four
percent of the island's tourism, which
expects to bring in 2.36 million visitors
this year.
(*This story was originally published by
Latin American newspapers that are part of
the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a
specialised news service produced by IPS
with the backing of the United Nations
Development Programme, United Nations
Environment Programme and the World Bank.) |
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Crocodiles at
Boca de Guama nursery in Cuba's Cienaga de
Zapata. / Credit:Jorge Luis Baños/IPS |
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