By Dalia Acosta
HAVANA, Jun 4 2001 (IPS)

Ten people are on a bicycle trek across Cuba, visiting more than 20 villages and cities, conveying the message of “peace with nature” as part of the festivities of World Environment Day, June 5.

“The cyclists will cover some 1,616 km in 18 days, from Cabo de San Antonio to Punta de Maisí, from one end of the country to the other,” Enrique Dalmau, an official from the Environmental Policy office of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, told IPS.

The message of the 10 bike-riding workers is to “Connect yourself to the world-wide web of life!” They plan to pass through Cuban capital Tuesday for the main World Environment Day ceremonies.

The bicycle tour is one of the variety of events taking place in Cuba, which is serving as international host country, alongside Italy, for the global environmental awareness day organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Cuba has experienced a marathon of events already this year – ranging from scientific demonstrations, community projects and contests for environmental awareness-raising initiatives – which continue to fill the calendar throughout the coming months.

Some five million people around the country are taking part in clean-up operations in the run-up to June 5, convened by the Revolutionary Defence Committees, which claim more than seven million members on this island of 11 million people.

“We are in the streets to pick up garbage, collect materials door- to-door, plant trees, fix up gardens, clean any beaches nearby and even rescue strays dogs,” explained Julio Rodríguez, 22, a university student.

Last year, Rodríguez jumped into the Bay of Havana to collect garbage as part of a World Environment Day anti-pollution campaign.

Cuba’s environmental authorities have identified the island’s biggest challenges to be desertification and contamination of water supplies, so are seeking to focus public awareness here on these ecological problems.

Among the activities planned for this week are community debates on sanitation, waste recycling and environmental protection.

The World Environment Day events have been organised by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, in conjunction with local governments, official national agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including religious groups.

Art exhibitions will also open their doors this week: “National Artists Paint the Environment”, which involves works by renowned Cuban creators, and “Toxic Landscapes”, an exposition of works by US artists.

In addition to the international ceremonies at Havana’s Convention Palace on Tuesday, which will be shared – via satellite – with the northern Italian city of Turin (Torino), workers will plant 2001 trees in Lenin Park, known as the capital’s lungs, followed by an open-air concert.

UNEP executive director Klaus Topfer will be taking part in the three June 5 events, and will also visit the keys along the island’s northern coast where he is to launch a sustainable tourism project that has the UN agency’s backing.

Topfer’s UNEP agenda includes a workshop on bio-security and he plans to preside over the UN agency’s presentation of Global 500 prizes to people and organisations that have made notable contributions to caring for and preserving the natural environment.

The Cuban NGO Cubasolar and the José Martí Pioneers Organisation, which includes most of the island’s primary school students, are among the groups to be recognised with the award this year.

* This article has been published by Tierramérica (www.tierramerica.net) under the title “The World Wide Web of Life”. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with support from the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.

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