Ecobreves – CUBA: Erosion Takes Toll on Beaches

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

HAVANA, Jun 14 2004 (IPS) - Ninety percent of Cuba's beaches are seeing some degree of erosion, according to a study released this month by the island's Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment. “The intensity of the erosion is moderate for most Cuban beaches, which means erosion rates no greater than 1.2 meters per year,” says the report.

The analysis of the scope, magnitude and causes of beach erosion along Cuba's coastline is the result of an inventory taken of 171 beaches — 103 along the island's northern shores, 68 along the southern.

The survey is intended to assess possibilities for tourism, as part of the rapid development of this economic sector dating to the mid-1980s. Erosion is hitting the beaches along the north-facing coast the most, which also happen to be Cuba's best tourism beaches.