PRO-BIODIVERSITY INITIATIVES IMPLEMENTED IN THE CARIBBEAN

Santiago de Cuba, March 19 (PL)- Initiatives to protect biodiversity have been implemented in Haiti and the Dominican Republic as part of the project of demarcation of the Caribbean Biological Corridor (CBC), also including Cuba.

Sources from that regional program,co-sponsored by the respective ministers of Environment of the three nations, the UN Development Program and the European Union, said five essential plans have started in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

In the Dominican Republic, they are promoting sustainable cultivation of the guano palm tree in Comendador, the boom of apiculture in Guayabo district and the adequate management of a dumping site in Pedro Santana municipality.

Actions in Haiti include the communities of Bassin Bleu and Dosmond, aimed at improving life conditions, promoting signposting, the plantation of trees, the training of guides, the application of renewable energy formulas and the backing of coffee production.

The experts, authorities and workers involved in the CBC work in 10 projects aimed at curbing the strain of human beings on natural resources and providing environmental friendly alternative means of subsistence and wellbeing.

In Cuba, a first stage of a pilot program is running in Baitiquiri, a semi-desert coastal strip in the eastern province of Guantanamo, including the reforestation of more than five hectares with timber-yielding and fruit trees.

In the past two years, the tasks included in this initiative have turned it into an example of regional cooperation for envirommental protection, restoration and rehabilitation in Caribbean islands.

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