The culmination of the environmental management actions envisaged by the international project Connecting Landscapes in four mountain ranges of the country, favors decision-making for the sustainable management of these areas.
The work in the special regions of sustainable development Guaniguanico, Guamuhaya, Bamburanao and Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa included updating maps and the status of protected areas, the latter increased by nine as a result of the studies, Lázara Sotolongo Molina, director of the draft, highlighted.
She noted as other achievements the reforestation of hydrographic basins, conservation of floristic resources, creation of agroforestry and silvopastoral farms, and the preparation of three biodigesters that will supply energy (biogas) to a community and a primary school, therefore, contribute to local development.
The Master's Degree in Applied Ecology and Systematics Specialist reported that in recent years in these mountainous regions the forest cover has been maintained and the fragmentation of the landscape has decreased as there is a greater movement of species as a result of connectivity, favorable to conserving biological diversity.
She stressed that the farms linked to the project have contributed to the Food Sovereignty and Nutrition Education Program, by providing food to communities and social institutions, which confirms the economic and social impact of Connecting Landscapes.
During a tour of the mountainous massif of Bamburanao, she confirmed the achievements at the Rincón Los Hondones School Farm with Landscape Focus, one of the six of its kind in the country, deserving of this status for carrying out an agroforestry management that favors the conservation of The Biodiversity.
There, she explained that the actions of the producers, with the intervention of the project, facilitate a variety of productions (meats, grains, vegetables and fruits), through agroecological practices and the rational use of natural resources such as water and soils; in addition to promoting the raising of rams, pigs, rabbits and birds.
She considered relevant the linking of their owners to teaching work in Primary, Technical-Professional and Higher education, in a particular way to the training of 104 agronomist engineers, who carry out their work practices there, while five carry out research to complete their studies.
This site also becomes a space to train producers from neighboring areas in techniques that ensure the sustainability of productions, preservation of the environment and adaptation to climate change.Osveldo Gómez Reina, owner of the aforementioned farm-school, thanked his family for their confidence in the management and the contribution of the project to improve living and working conditions in the place, in such a way that the increase in productions in harmony with the environment.
In addition to support the project, María del Carmen Olivera Isern, coordinator of Connecting Landscapes in the territory of Ciego de Ávila, considered essential the knowledge of the owners of the farm, who are given the merit of involving their descendants in agricultural work and rescue of peasant traditions.
Sponsored by the United Nations Development Program, the Forestry Business Group, and the ministries of Agriculture and Science, Technology and Environment, this project is aimed at guaranteeing the effective protection of biodiversity against current and future threats in landscapes of mountain.
Moreover, it provides knowledge and conceives the improvement of the living and working conditions of the people who inhabit these ecosystems, who benefit from deliveries of work tools, clothing for work in the field and items for the home.
