Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)

Cuba steps up its focus on eco-tourism

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CUBA is expanding its eco-tourism activities, making the most of the natural attraction­s and wildlife of the Caribbean island’s keys.

Tourism resort Cayo Largo, a long narrow key located just over 100km from Isla de la Juventud, or Isle of Youth, was recently re-launched as a leading haven of native flora and fauna. The 25km-long, 3km-wide key offers national and internatio­nal tourists endless white sand beaches that are home to seagulls, herons, hummingbir­ds and iguanas, among other wildlife.

Among its main attraction­s are Paraiso, Sirena and Linda Mar beaches, where diving to see the coral reefs and other water sports are the favourite pastimes.

But visitors are most captivated by Cayo Largo’s pet project: protecting the different sea turtle species that nest along the beaches from

May to September, lumbering ashore to lay their eggs in shallow pits they then cover with sand.

Protecting the offspring requires moving between 100 and 200 turtle nests each year from the shoreline to a safer, quieter enclave that is less likely to be disturbed by tourism activity, according to biologist Gonzalo Nodarse, who is part of the environmen­tal initiative.

Leonardo Rodriguez, another specialist taking part in the project, said the turtle protection initiative also aims to raise awareness among visitors of the importance of caring for the planet and its inhabitant­s amid the challenges posed by climate change.

“We organise nocturnal sighting activities, so people learn more about the nesting of turtles,” he said.

Once the eggs hatch, the baby turtles “are usually released into the sea at the barrier reef”, he added.

Cuba is stepping up its commitment to sustainabl­e tourism, recently passing a new law to replace regulation­s dating from 1997 regarding natural resources management and environmen­tal protection.

Cuba has more than 4000 keys and islets, the most visited being Cayo Largo, Cayo Santa Maria, Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo.

Excursions to Cayo Blanco, a small islet about 14km from the well-known resort of Varadero, are also popular among tourists.

In Cayo Blanco, visitors can interact or swim with dolphins and learn about what Cuba is doing to protect these marine mammals in the island’s mangrove ecosystem.

The dolphinari­um’s top specialist, Geosle Alfonso, said a team of experts takes good care of the dolphins. “This dolphinari­um is very natural,” he said, noting that local “flora and fauna co-exist with our dolphins. That is what makes this place special.”

Visitor numbers are not what they used to be, said Alfonso.

“We are working to be able to recover the levels of visitors that we had before the pandemic,” he said.

Cuba received just 390000 internatio­nal visitors in 2021, far below the more than four million annual visitors seen before the pandemic, according to the Tourism Ministry.

But the government expects a slight recovery, forecastin­g 2.5 million foreigners will travel to Cuba this year. |

 ?? ?? VIEW from the tower at the Sol Pelicano Hotel in Cayo Largo, Cuba.
VIEW from the tower at the Sol Pelicano Hotel in Cayo Largo, Cuba.

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