The commitment of the Greater Antilles with mitigation and adaptation to climate change was highlighted in the province of Ciego de Ávila by Lucía Lacalle Martín, cooperation attaché for the Environment, Climate Change and Renewable Energy of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Cuba.
During the results-oriented monitoring of the international project Coastal Resilience in the coastal community of Punta Alegre, financed by the EU to complement the Plan of the Cuban State for Confronting Climate Change (Life Task), he recognized that this nation is among the more advanced in this task. What has been done acquires greater connotation when considering the limitations of resources and the effects of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on the Island by the US government, limitations to acquire technologies that make possible the investigations and mitigation and adaptation actions.
The will of the Cubans and the strengthening of relations with the EU are motivations to promote projects such as Coastal Resilience, whose contribution of five million euros was classified as a "grain of sand" to encourage work aimed at minimizing the consequences of variations in the weather.
With four direct intervention sites on the central north coast of the country (Punta Brava, Playa Victoria, Punta Alegre and Santa Rita), the project strengthens and integrates disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change in socioeconomic development plans sectors and governments of vulnerable coastal municipalities.
In Punta Alegre, northwest of the province of Ciego de Ávila, the representative of the EU Delegation in Cuban territory and her companions inaugurated Los Buchillones Community Capacity Building Center, attached to the one in the municipality of Chambas and with the responsibility to promote environmental education.
Since last September, this institution, equipped with resources provided by Coastal Resilience, has trained students enrolled in Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary education, managers and workers from key sectors, representatives of political and mass organizations and community leaders.
Ihosvany Martínez Tamayo, principal specialist at the Los Buchillones Archaeological Site, where the center is located, pointed out that the lessons strengthen capacities to reduce the risks of disasters and the effects of climate change.
Content related to the care and conservation of the environment is also taught, and the incorporation of students into the "Cleaning the World" initiative is encouraged, aimed at sanitizing the coastline and demonstrating the unity of community factors to protect natural resources, he added. According to what emerged in the exchange with the Punta Alegre locals, Coastal Resilience also advocates for the rights and empowerment of women, with greater insertion in productive activities and administrative positions, after achieving a different vision of their role in society that promotes gender equality.
During the exchange with cattle producers, they appreciated the impact of the knowledge acquired for the management of coastal zones, including their work in the rehabilitation of mangroves damaged by the strong winds and waves caused by Hurricane Irma as it passed through the area in September of year 2017.
It was confirmed that the knowledge transferred by specialists from the Bio-food Research Centers (CIBA) and Coastal Ecosystems Research Centers (CIEC) favor the fulfillment of the project's objectives, while the allocation of material and technological resources humanizes the restoration work in mangrove forests.
Paola Larghi and Teresa López Seijas, external evaluator and coordinator of the project for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), respectively, learned about the cleaning of canals to facilitate the runoff of water in the event of possible flooding due to rain or penetration of the sea. .
Jorge Ariel Ferrer Buchillón, owner of the "La Salina" farm, explained that he takes advantage of invasive plant species and damaged mangroves to make charcoal that meets family needs, the community and a mini-industry, in addition to generating income and using the residue of the ovens as fertilizer for reforested areas.
As part of the journey, areas rehabilitated by the Forestry Base Business Unit of the municipality of Chambas were also checked, whose work has spread over 50 hectares and includes the creation of ecological passes and the cleaning of canals to favor the growth of plantations and the natural regeneration.
At the end of the visit, the environmental, economic and social impact of the project was recognized, started in 2020, in fatal coincidence with the global COVID-19 pandemic, which imposed mobility restrictions, however, the actions did not stop and achieved transformations substantial in the territory of Punta Alegre.
Coastal Resilience acts directly in the municipalities of Caibarién, Yaguajay, Chambas and Nuevitas, while replica actions extend to 11 other territories for the benefit of more than 600 thousand people.
The Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, through the Environment Agency and its National Risk Assessment Group, with the accompaniment of the UNDP and the participation of the Civil Defense, Agriculture, Hydraulic Resources and Physical Planning, lead this initiative.
