Ecobreves – CUBA: Snail Farming

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

HAVANA, Apr 17 2004 (IPS) - A project to artificially raise Zachrysia guanensis, a land snail, is under way in Cuba's Viñales National Park, 150 km from the capital. The cultivation sites are along the bases of the 'mogotes', elevated areas typical to the region, declared a UNESCO Cultural Landscape.

There the shells have access to food, and flourish in the shade and dampness, ideal conditions for their natural reproduction. Each one deposits 20 to 25 eggs.

The snail is native to the area, and its meat has protein content similar to beef or fish, and some of the substances produced by the organism have medicinal uses.

More than 1,400 land mollusks have been identified in Cuba, with 1,200 being endemic. And in Viñales Park there are 134 species, 88 of which are native to the local area.