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The promise to have the loveliest beaches

ACTIONS ARE BEING TAKEN ALL ALONG THE CUBAN COASTLINE TO PROTECT AND RECOVER COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS, WHERE IMPORTANT TOURIST POLES HAVE ALREADY BEEN FAVORED IN THE LAST TWO YEARS

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY: ROLANDO PUJOL

The effects of climate change have been strongly felt in the Caribbean area in the last decade. Scientific forecasts warn of an increase in extreme weather phenomena such as hurricanes, tornadoes and periods of rain or drought outside the usual season. Rising water levels along the coast, which have made coastal communities and beach areas vulnerable, have also focused the attention of specialists.

Within the Tarea Vida, which is the contingency plan developed by the Cuban State to mitigate the impact of climate on the environment, actions are contemplated to reduce damages in the different areas of the country where the highest incidence occurs.

Within this conservation project, beaches are a prioritized natural resource, as stated by Doctor of Science Ernesto Tristá Barrera, Marketing Chief of Coastal Engineering of the Gamma S.A. Investment Company, recently to the Cuban News Agency.

According to him, the decrease in the number of bathers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic provided the opportunity to undertake complex works with the use of large machines. He mentioned the execution, in 2020, of the artificial beach in the Oasis sector in Varadero, the country's main tourist pole, where the construction of a high standard hotel was concluded, recovering the adjacent beach, which was very deteriorated due to intense erosion.

In the area, Gamma's specialists focused on demolishing the concrete structures that affected the sand bar, built coastal defenses and proceeded to pour new sand to recover the beach, Dr. Tristá Barrera confirmed in the interview.

Also during the months of low tourism caused by the pandemic, between 2020 and 2021, sand was dumped in the cove of the Plaza America Hotel, where the 2022 International Tourism Fair will be held in May of this year. The jetty in front of the Xanadu Mansion was also demolished due to its state of deterioration.

In previous years, as part of the work to protect the beach in Varadero, several constructions were demolished that were significantly affecting the coastline, such as the Herradura Hotel and the old International Hotel, and the modern International Hotel was built a hundred meters from the shore, which significantly widened the light of the beach, providing an excellent recreational area for bathers.

In addition to these actions, the recovery of the sands and mangroves, the coral reefs and the protection of the native flora and fauna, a responsibility shared between the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and the Flora and Fauna Enterprise, in the Hicacos Peninsula and its adjacent keys.

THROUGH THE ARCHIPELAGO

Another of the tourist destinations that benefited from the actions of Tarea Vida was, in 2020, Playa Pesquero, in the province of Holguín, where a beach of excellent conditions was created on a rocky terrace, a work undertaken by Gamma, which received the recognition of tour operators and managers of the province.

Other projects include the recovery of several stretches of beaches in Cayo Paredón Grande, north of Ciego de Avila, where some 400,000 cubic meters of sand will be spread with a modern suction dredge of the Empresa de Obras Marítimas del Ministerio de la Construcción (Maritime Works Company of the Ministry of Construction).

In the recovery program that will last until 2030, sand dumping works are scheduled for the beaches of the Ancon Peninsula, in Sancti Spiritus and in Cayo Largo del Sur, located in the eastern end of the Canarreos Archipelago, bathed by the waters of the Caribbean Sea,

which has been affected by erosion and hurricanes.

About 25 km from Havana, El Salado Beach will benefit from the restoration of its coastline, which is very much appreciated by locals and tourists seeking to enjoy the sea without being too far away from the capital.

It has been evaluated by the group of specialists in charge of the implementation of Tarea Vida that, of the 505 beaches in Cuba, 86 percent are affected by evident erosive processes, which are manifested by the outcropping of rocks, damage to coastal vegetation and rigid facilities, erected very close to the sea, among other problems detected.

About 20% of the eroded beaches are currently being rehabilitated, with engineering and natural resource management actions. Other work is aimed at monitoring the morphological evolution and sedimentation of the coastlines where recovery works are being undertaken.

In Cuba there are hundreds of thousands of people living near the coasts and beach areas; therefore, it is of vital importance the dissemination of the actions promoted by the Task Life, so that the marine communities undertake the care and conservation of their environment, eliminating the pollutant loads of waste and wastewater discharges. Every year, during the summer season, hundreds of volunteers work in the tasks of cleaning the coastline and collaborate with the actions of propaganda for its preservation.

Erosion is the most marked effect of climate change on Cuban beaches, but Tarea Vida conceives the confrontation of its negative consequences with a holistic vision, where everyone has the opportunity to learn from nature and contribute their grain of sand, among the thousands of tons that the dredges dump every day to cover the bare rocks.

Sumario

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2022-05-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://revistasexcelencias.pressreader.com/article/282772065145264

Exclusivas Latinoamericanas