ENVIRONMENT-CUBA: Biosphere Reserve Opens to Eco-Tourism

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta - Tierramérica*

HAVANA, Aug 7 2002 (IPS) - The community of Las Terrazas, in the northern reserve of Sierra del Rosario, opened its doors to tourism in a bid for economic survival after decades of being hidden from travellers and remaining unknown to most of their fellow Cubans.

Just 54 km from Havana, Las Terrazas covers 5,000 hectares of rivers, valleys, mountains and forests, and forms part of the Sierra del Rosario, which UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) declared a biosphere reserve in 1985.

The road leading to the town of nearly 1,000 inhabitants and its natural attractions are kept under watch and its caretakers reserve the right to refuse entry to the area.

“Not everyone has the level of education and awareness needed to enter a place like this,” Jorge Luis Zamora, who designed the eco-tourism plan, commented in a conversation with Tierramérica.

Las Terrazas is proving that “green” tourism is indeed possible. Visitors may enter the protected area, but must heed many restrictions.

More than 500 plant species are found in the tropical forest of the reserve, as well as 78 bird species, seven lizard types and a great variety of amphibians.

Tourism could lead to the contamination of the reserve’s water sources, the illegal capture of animals and even sound pollution resulting from vehicles, warn specialised studies.

The Sierra del Rosario Integral Development Plan, approved back in 1968, attempted to bring together the dispersed human population, foment sustainable forestry activity and protect the soil from erosion.

After centuries of deforestation resulting from the spread of coffee and tobacco plantations and ranching, “the area was being stripped bald,” recalls Fidel Ramos, director of a national programme for development of mountainous areas.

In 10 years, the area residents planted more than six million trees throughout 1,500 square km of open terraces, from the valleys to the peaks.

The community was founded in 1971 and “subsidised by the state, because the idea was to eventually live from the forest, which would take 30 years to grow,” Zamora explained.

But in the early 1990s, when Cuba began to suffer the profound economic crisis that continues to this day, it became impossible for the Fidel Castro government to keep the environmental reserve closed off.

Tourism became the only option, say local residents.

In 1994, the Las Terrazas tourism complex was incorporated, and included a charter establishing that income from tourism would be divided among the company, the community and the state.

“We are talking about a unique experience, from the development programmes applied throughout decades to the way in which tourism activity is managed,” stated Zamora.

The opening of La Moka Hotel and of recreation sites along the San Juan River and at the restored Buena Vista coffee farm created more than 200 jobs.

Tourism in the area provides more than a million dollars in income each year and has allowed the residents to expand the variety of basic goods they can purchase at subsidised prices.

“One of the most sensitive problems — housing — is beginning to be resolved with the maintenance of some of the older houses and the possibility of building new homes,” said the environmental tourism expert.

The challenge is how to manage the growing influx of European tourists without surpassing the limits of environmental impacts.

Furthermore, Cubans are prohibited from moving to Las Terrazas. In the past, leaving the town for the big city was a mode of survival, but with the reserve’s income level, it is no longer really necessary.

“I’ll visit Havana for two or three days, but I have to come back. I can’t stand the noise, the traffic and the anxiety of the people,” said Luis Manuel Acosta, 24, who grew up in Las Terrazas.

Although he makes his living from tourism, Acosta recognises that success lies in the restriction on access to the area.

“The number of people who can visit the river, the lake or any part of the complex is limited, and that is the way it should be,” he said.

* Tierramérica is a specialised news service (www.tierramerica.net) produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.