---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 1995 06:12:50 -0700
From: Tom Gray <tgray@igc.apc.org>
To: ENVIRONMENT IN LATIN AMERICA NETWORK <elan@csf.colorado.edu>
Subject: Cuba's Ecotourism
/* Written 3:24 PM Mar 1, 1995 by livingearth in igc:loe.transcript */
CURWOOD: Every day around this time of year, thousands of North
Americans fill cruise ships and airplanes bound for the Caribbean and
warm relief from winter. But they pass right by the closest and once
popular destination, Cuba. Cuba's been off limits to US citizens for a
generation, but with its economy in tatters the isolated Communist state
is making a play for tourists willing to test the US travel ban, and for
those from other Western countries which have friendlier relations with
the island nation. And the key to Cuba's new tourism push isn't luxury
but ecology. In the last of our recent series on Cuba's new Green
Revolution, Martha Honey filed this report.
(Surf and muted conversation)
HONEY: A long, raised wooden walkway leads from the surf through the
mangrove swamp on Cayo Levisa, a tiny windswept island off Cuba's
northeastern coast. It's surrounded by one of Cuba's best coral reefs,
but until recently it was inaccessible to tourists. Now some are
starting to arrive, staying at the recently built hotel.
(A band plays salsa)
HONEY: The path ends at the small hotel on the edge of a gentle white
sand beach. Over a lunch of freshly caught red snapper, the hotel
manager, George Medina, uses his smattering of English to explain that
the walkway was designed to minimize the environmental impact of
tourism.
MEDINA: It was intentional, because it is very natural for the
conservation of nature. And we're ready to develop eco-tourism.
(Applause; the performers say "Gracias!")
HONEY: Eco-tourism is the new buzzword in Cuba and throughout the travel
industry. But Cubans are carefully planning their tourism expansion to
minimize environmental damage. Gisela Alonso is director of Cuba's
Academy of Sciences.
ALONZO: [Speaks in Spanish]
TRANSLATOR: We don't want to have the problems of the Mediterranean and
Cancun. It must not be done in a disorderly way. So we have a National
Commission on Eco- Tourism made up of tourism, scientific, and
environmental members. We analyze the hotel capacity, the number of
tourists we can receive in those areas so that we have the least effect
possible on these tourism areas.
HONEY: Alonso explains that academy scientists do environmental impact
studies on all new tourist projects. For instance, before the hotel at
Cayo Levisa was built, scientists surveyed the island and recommended
the raised walkway, and appropriate size and construction materials for
the hotel.
(Birdsong and motor vehicles)
HONEY: Cuba's newest and most innovative eco-tourist project is at the
community of Las Terrazas in the rolling hills of Pinar del Rio
Province. It's next to a rainforest which the United Nations has named
Cuba's first biosphere reserve.
(Birdsong and waterfall)
HONEY: A tiny waterfall runs through the lobby of the new hotel. Birds
nest in the large trees which shoot up through the roof. No trees were
cut or hills leveled. Instead, the rambling Spanish-style hotel follows
the contour of the land. And eventually, much of the hotel's
electricity will be generated by solar panels.
(Ambient conversation amidst the birdsong)
HONEY: More than anyone else in Cuba, the community of Las Terrazas in
this hotel are the dream of Osmani Cuenfuegos, Cuba's Minister of
Tourism. He is also an architect, conservationist, and part of Castro's
inner circle.
CIENFUEGOS: [Speaks in Spanish]
TRANSLATOR: We are not going into eco-tourism because it is trendy.
We're going into it because of our principles and our concern with
protecting nature. The idea is that the tourists and the community
together participate in all this. We think that the tourists will like
that, and that it will help the community.
(More ambient conversation)
HONEY: At a meeting, community members and scientists explain that the
eco-tourism project is a natural complement to their work reforesting
the area around the reserve, and that the revenue will directly benefit
the town.
WOMAN: [Speaks in Spanish]
TRANSLATOR: The profits from this little tourism project will go to
supporting the community's schools and the day care centers. It's not
essential, but it's a supplement to our other activities within the bio
reserve.
(Children speaking)
HONEY: Arnie Coro is a radio journalist and environmentalist who has
long been involved in the Las Terrazas project. He says this project is
an important model because the profits remain here. They are not
absorbed into the central government's coffers. And, Coro says,
eco-tourism is also having a positive impact on the next generation.
CORO: For example, children in that school are now aware of what
bird-watching is all about. And that puts them quite ahead of a
standard Cuban primary school kid.
HONEY: Cuban officials say a major factor in the success of their
eco-tourism plans will be US policy. They say they need the US to lift
the travel ban and allow Americans to come here. But while they point
the finger outside, there are internal obstacles to success as well.
(Sounds of traffic)
HONEY: For the last 30 years everything in Cuba has been run from here,
Havana, by the central government's cumbersome bureaucracy. Although
the government now allows tourists to travel freely throughout the
island, in reality it's very difficult. There is a lack of
transportation and food. Government tour agencies remain geared to
handling large package tours to beach resorts. And while they're
carefully monitoring the environmental impact of all tourism projects,
Cuba is still developing old-style, large-scale tourist resorts, some
with the help of foreign investors. Such hotels have become magnets for
prostitutes, beggars, and black marketeers: problems Cuba had virtually
eliminated since the Revolution. But now, like its people, the
government needs every dollar it can get. So large package tourism will
continue to coexist alongside its healthier cousin, eco-tourism. Marc
Frank is an American economist who lives in Havana.
FRANK: In general, I think Cuba's very serious about ecology, very
serious about protecting the natural environment. I think that that's
not in any way a hoax. At the same time, Cuba does need to develop mass
tourism, with all its negative impact, and the best they can do is try
to make it as healthy as possible, but they can't stop its development
because they need it in order to survive.
HONEY: Despite problems, Cuba's tourism push is helping the country
survive and preserve the social programs which are the backbone of the
Revolution. Tourism is up 25% since 1993, and Cuba is gaining
recognition within the international tourism industry for its
environmental innovations. But the success of its eco-tourism effort
may ultimately hinge on Washington. On whether political changes there
will allow Cuba to tap its strongest natural market for environmentally
conscious travelers: the US. For Living on Earth, I'm Martha Honey.
(Music up and under)
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