"There must be, we’re in their natural habitat," answered Lázaro Cotayo, head of the Cienaga de Zapata Protected Areas Unit, as he skillfully steers the vessel and adds, perhaps to reassure me, "but they’ll be sleeping now, they are nocturnal predators and rest during the day."

With Lázaro and Fransisco Medina as hosts, I am touring one of the most beautiful places I have seen in my life: the western part of the Ciénaga de Zapata, the biggest swampland in the Caribbean, a peninsular that extends from southern Cuba to the sea and is home to 12 species of mammal, 31 reptiles, 180 birds, dozens of amphibians and more than 1,000 vegetable species from 180 families.

This 492,000-hectare swampland is home to 18 of Cuba’s 22 endemic species, and three of them are exclusive. During the winter, the Ciénaga welcomes many more species with thousands upon thousands of migratory birds escaping the cold northern zones to find a safe haven in the area.

The Ciénaga has 14 different ecosystems, and 50% of its land is covered by different varieties of forest. Its human population is 8,000—living in 16 communities—with a population density of 1.8 persons per square kilometer, making it one of Cuba’s most under-populated regions.

Despite this dispersal, the population is guaranteed health and education services and there is an effective system of attention to the communities, especially the more isolated ones.

Timber is the main source of employment, with 2,000 people dedicated to tending the forests, felling trees and processing timber in the sawmills. It is followed by tourism with more than 1,000 employees who care for some 130,000 visitors per year.

The boat journey takes us along the Zapata Canal to the Hatiguanico river, fed by huge springs surging from the rocks—it is said that one of these has rejuvenating properties—making it one of the largest of its kind in the country. The little-known Hatiguanico is 37 kilometers in length and the axis of a fluvial system unrivalled in Cuba.

It flows into the Ensenada de la Broa, an enormous loop in the westernmost part of the Zapata peninsular, also an important breeding area for fish, lobster and prawns.

The course of the Hatiguanico and its tributaries create an impenetrable area of forest. My hosts explain that where the water surges from the ground, impregnated with carbonate from deposits in the north of the province, the vegetation grows strongly. The carbonate neutralizes the acidity of the peat in the Ciénaga and promotes the formation of densely forested mountainous cays.

Protecting these natural treasures is the daily task of a small and dedicated group of men and women, enchanted by so much natural beauty. The Ciénaga has been declared a Biosphere Reserve, and a protected area in which a sustainable development program is underway. The swampland is also part of the RAMSAR Agreement, and a member of the National Parks group since 2001.

The protected area’s administration is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture but its methodology follows Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment guidelines.

Environmental protection labors receive essential backing from the Integral Conservation of Natural Resources Support Project for the Ciénaga de Zapata, promoted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with funds supplied by the Netherlands government.

This Dutch contribution is in excess of $556,000 USD, while Cuban funding amounts to almost 1,150,000 pesos. According to Fransisco Medina, director for the area "this project substantially supports our task of protecting nature in the region, which implies forestry organization and rehabilitation, protecting species and the environment and ongoing efforts to educate the population and all other factors—including tourism—to avoid damage to the ecosystem.

"Our main challenge, he added, "is to raise the population’s living standards and create a higher awareness of the area’s environmental and socioeconomic value, as it is a zone of great potential as a source of protecting biodiversity, ecotourism, and in the sustained preservation of timber and non-timber forestry products."

Cotayo insists that resource management in the northern part of Matanzas province is also important, pointing out that the Ciénaga, in the south of the province, is the hydro-geological window of Matanzas’ calcite region. "That is why bad management in the north could have serious consequences for the south."

Tourism is an important source of income and a livelihood for a large part of the local population. The Protected Areas Unit works in close contact with tourist companies to ensure that their activities do not threaten the environment.

The FAO and diplomatic representatives from the Netherlands and Cuba are all frequent visitors to the project, including the Dutch ambassador Cornelia Minderhoud.

The FAO’s representative in Cuba, Fernando Robayo, has expressed this organization’s satisfaction with the project’s progress. Talking to Granma International, Robayo affirmed that over the last year "the project has followed the original work plan rigorously and everything indicates that it will move beyond meeting its objectives."

Judging by the intensive labors underway and an evident personal dedication and commitment, this project could set new standards of success in the promotion of sustained development in rural areas and contribute to the continuance of the living poetry of this beautiful environment.

(Granma) August 28, 2001