• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 04 / 13 / 2011

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2011.04.12 - 17:54:45 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. Las Tunas, Cuba. - Cuba is carrying out a project with international financing for the preservation and management of its protected marine and coastal areas.

Susana Perera, Environmental Specialist from the National Center of Protected Areas, told ACN news agency that the program benefits 28 important natural areas which are being monitored for its biological diversity, updating its management plans and the biological attention is being reinforced.

The project is also planning the creation of a methodology aimed at achieving self financing the areas, through the reproduction of the most important fish species and the promotion of a strategy of sustainable tourism.

The National Parks of Guanahacabibes, Zapata Swamp and Desembarco del Granma of great natural importance are benefited with this project and centers its actions in areas like mangroves, coral reefs and marine pasture.

The local communities are also benefited from the natural values of its environment with more efficient ecological actions so much needed for the population, said Jose Marti Jomarron, environmental specialist of the Jardines de la Reina National Park located in the provinces of Ciego de Avila and Camaguey.

As part of the projects, training its personnel is being developed as well as strategies for the creation of structures that will allow the cohesion of all the social sectors, he stressed.

Since 2010, the issue has been analyzed at the National Assembly with the objective of updating the current legislation and establishing mechanisms for its control.

According to Hector Amigo, President of the Energy and Environment Commission, the regional management of protected areas constitutes a solution that could be adapted to the new international tendencies and the changes underway in Cuba based on the current economic model.

The National System of Protected Areas was created on April 12th, 1930 and currently has 253 protected areas, 108 of which are located in marine or coastal areas.(ACN)