The dumping of more than 306,000 cubic meters (m3) of sand in 1,700 meters (m) of beaches located on Paredón Grande Cay, in the Jardines del Rey Archipelago, reaffirms the will of the Cuban State to mitigate the effects of climate change, in line with the premises of the Life Task.

In the specific area of ??North Beach, the national program for the recovery of sandy beaches foresees the reconstruction of a 40 m wide by 4 m high dune, with the aim of improving the profile of the beach and avoiding erosion caused by the swell and wind.

Rolando Barroso Vargas, specialist of the Delegation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA by its Spanish initials) in Ciego de Ávila, specified that with the sand dumping a more resilient ecosystem will be achieved to the onslaught of climatic phenomena.

He recalled the experience of Hurricane Irma, in October 2017, when the strong winds and waves devastated the dunes of the place and caused a setback of the coastline by 24 m_ in excess of the 1.2 m registered annually in the Cuban archipelago_ and the loss of 44.50 m3 of sand per linear meter.

"The reconstruction of this natural barrier, with better conditions, will allow the collection and relocation of the particles moved by climatic phenomena and will guarantee the stability of the beach profiles," Barroso Vargas said.

The sand for the restoration is extracted and pumped towards the beach, by means of a dredge acquired by Cuba, from a distance of approximately 3 kilometers offshore, where the studies confirmed the existence of a reserve of two million m3 of this natural resource. Subsequently, it is redistributed on the ground by mechanical means, until it meets the parameters established by the project.

The CITMA specialist stressed that the investment is valued at more than 40 million pesos and also responds to the economic interests of the nation, related to improving the quality of the beaches to develop tourism.

According to information published by the Granma newspaper, “in contrast to the growth in hotel capacities from the impact of Hurricane Irma, the beaches of Paredón Grande do not have favorable conditions to sustain the growing demand imposed by the planned tourism development, given the existence of a limited area of ??sun, presence of erosion scarps, outcrops of rocky surfaces in the submerged part, falling trees, as well as the destruction and disappearance of large areas of dunes”.

The injection of sand to the beaches of Paredón Grande Cay began in January of this year and has been carried out without interruption, as a result of the adverse weather conditions. If weather makes that possible, it could be concluded in the next two or three months.

As part of the Life Task and the actions for the rehabilitation of the coastal dunes in the Jardines del Rey Archipelago, the Bio-Food Research Center (CIBA), attached to the CITMA Provincial Delegation, develops a project to eliminate invasive alien species and establish native plants, from the production, in an experimental plant nursery, of the Canavalia rosea species, with ornamental potential and contributions to the preservation of the ecosystem.