The Great Northern Wetland of Ciego de Ávila (GHNCA), declared a Ramsar Site in 2002 due to its natural values ​​of international importance, held this weekend the XVI edition of the artistic-cultural festival dedicated to the promotion of good environmental practices in that flora and fauna reservoir.

Yuney Ahmed Cruz Antigua, director of The Great Northern Wetland Business Unit, manager of the local development project of the same name and organizer of the event, highlighted the participation of pioneers from Ciego de Avila, belonging to schools located in the four municipalities covered by the GNHCA (Chambas, Morón, Bolivia and Primero de Enero).

She recognized the presence of specialists from the Caguanes National Park and members of the Ambienta sociocultural project, corresponding to the municipality of Yaguajay, in the province of Sancti Spíritus, and with favorable results from science and art, respectively, in the protection of the environment.

Through theatrical performances, dances, poetry and plastic arts, boys and girls demonstrated their knowledge and conveyed messages referring to the care and conservation of nature as guarantees to preserve life on the planet.

For the effectiveness of the actions to conserve the GHNCA, the Morón radio and television, the State Forest Service, the Sub-delegation of the Environment and Dulce María Cruz Simón, specialist in Environmental Education at the Provincial Company for the Protection of Flora and Fauna, were honored.

The meeting, which became the culmination of the Day for Wetlands in Ciego de Avila, also brought together members of the organizations and institutions that intervene in the management of the GHNCA by developing socioeconomic activities committed to the rational use and preservation of natural resources.

Daylon Fundora Caballero, head of the Department of Natural Resources of the Environment Subdelegation, stressed that environmental education and methodological advice contribute to the proper use of natural resources, adaptation to climate change and improvement of the quality of life in that habitat.

Zulima Díaz Montes, principal specialist of the Capacity Building Center of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) in the municipality of Morón, highlighted that the GHNCA executes several projects that complement the State Plan for Confronting Climate Change (Life Task).

The Centers for Environmental Engineering and Biodiversity (CIBA) and Coastal Ecosystems (CIEC) lead initiatives aimed at the integrated management of this area and the rehabilitation of coastal dunes (sand dumping, restoration of vegetation and elimination of exotic plants), she added.

The monitoring of the beaches and the application of the results of an integrated coastal management project in communities threatened by the increase in the average sea level and, as a consequence, coastal erosion and soil salinization, are guaranteed, he explained.

In the coastal settlement of Punta Alegre, in the northwest of Ciego de Àvila, workers from the Comprehensive Forestry Company and peasants are advancing in the recovery of mangroves and the development of productive systems adjusted to climatic variations, based on capacities created by the international project Coastal Resilience, accurate.

Similar actions are promoted on the southern coast of the province, through the global initiative called Mi Costa, which implements adaptation systems based on ecosystems to face climate change.

The Estero-Socorro dam underwent a rigorous repair, carried out by Hydraulic Resources workers, who facilitated the exchange of water between Jigüey Bay and La Redonda Lagoon, through 14 ecological passes, to reduce salinity levels in this last reservoir, she added.

At the proposal of CITMA, the GHNCA must become a protected area of ​​managed resources, administered by a board that will be chaired by government authorities and will be made up of the organizations represented in that gigantic ecosystem, a structure that will ensure the conservation and correct use of natural resources in an area of ​​226 875 hectares.