Cuba hopes to plant trees on 67,000 hectares per year until 2015, with the goal of increasing its forest cover from its current 24.5 percent to 29 percent, said experts at a Havana conference last week. Reforestation was particularly beneficial for the semiarid southern coastline of Guantánamo province.

Teodosio Hernández, entrusted with the fruit and lumber tree species repopulation program there, told Tierramérica that the residents of the area towns are involved in the endeavor, and planting trees in their own yards.

Small farmers are also key to caring for a newly planted field of neem trees (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) in the Guantánamo community of Baitiquiri, carried out with support from the Global Environment Facility.