'Cuba’s Environmental Problems\r'

'When companionableism was introduced to Cuba, the imagination was that it would be to a greater extent than eco- amicable than capitalism. Instead, the Revolution to quickly swayled two major eventors that in conclusion led to surroundingsal problems in developing countries: tribe growth and p everywherety. Contri besides ifing to the issue of p everywherety in Cuba be the fiscal, economic and commercial prevents imposed by the United States. In order to preserve the environment in Cuba and combat these issues, serious action was necessary.\r\nThe make out of environmental damage dusks into two categories: a) sm altogether-scale environmental decease committed by individuals by dint of illegal hunting, de af timbreation, dumping of lo habituate up into aquatic ecosystems, etc. ; or b) large environmental destruction chairing from major projects and industries approved by disposalal agencies and owned by international companies, like hotel chains and mining companies juveniler the peculiar(a) termination, and agriculture before the redundant Period”. [1] The opportunity for Cuba to protect its environment came after the fall of the Soviet Union and the strengthening of the US blockade in 1990.\r\nThis period, referred to as the Special Period (1990-2000), witnessed a decrease in umpteen environmentally change activities both by choice and by necessity, exclusively also resulted in many decisions to resuscitate the Cuban economy. After the Earth Summit in 1992, adjacent Fidel Castro’s speech viewing the position of the environment on a global scale, Cuba designed and implement a variant of programs, administrative structures, and public aw argonness activities to produce sound environmental solicitude and sustainable ripening.\r\nWhat is close to important is the damage that ahs already been d whizz and the efforts to verso these conditions. Currently, there ar many efforts to form the Cuban environment to a sustainable aim. When the agent collectivist countries of easterly Europe ended trade and financial relationships with Cuba, the is republic was forced to make loathsome ad middlingments. The emergency measures implemented by the Cuban g overnance aimed at preventing the hit economic collapse of the regime, bewilder been referred to by the overhaulership as the â€Å"special period in peacetime. ” This Special Period brought about â€Å"the creation of the Ministry of Science,\r\nTechnology and environs (CITMA) in 1994 [which] provided an important impetus for environmental constitution and management on a national scale. ”[2] In 1995 the National milieual Strategy (EAN) was designed, scarcely was non approved by the regime until 1997. Since then the EAN â€Å"is the channelise document of Cuban environmental policy, establishing the principles upon which the national environmental efforts ar establish. ”[3] The dodge identifies the main e nvironmental issues in Cuba and proposes ideas and various methods to prevent, solve or minimize these problems.\r\nThe strategy goals are to reform environmental protection and the expend of indwelling alternatives in an attempt to affect sustainable mixer and economic development objectives. Evaluations of Cubas environmental place overmatch in comparison with easterly European records shows â€Å"that environmental disablement in Cuba over more(prenominal) than tether decades of socialist rule responded to specific conditions non commonly found in developing countries… just now were designate in the former Soviet Union and the former Eastern European socialist countries. [4] As a result of this, Kirwin Shaffer utters that: Consequently, central planning ignored local anaesthetic environmental concerns.\r\nAlso, the absence of private ownership and the wish of citizen input in decision making meant that all decisions affecting the local level were made with regard to how they fit with the overall national plan. Results and impacts at the local level were secondary. Which leads to these conclusions: Cuban plain and industrial development following the Soviet models suffer had similar meanings for water supply, estate and air pollution as found in Europe. 5] The current Cuban stance that attempts to buck the USSR for these effect in Cuba benefits Cuba’s political system be attempt it takes the blame away from the state, but it is non served by the diachronic record. The glorified â€Å"greening” of Cuba during the 1990s has beneficial impacts over the pithy term, but, according to Diaz-Briquets and Perez-Lopez, economic costs and turns toward a development model establish on tourism may soon erode those short-term gains.\r\nCubas pollution and contaminant problems are widespread, and non firely the result of Soviet-style development projects. Yet, there is no doubt that many of the current environmental problems in Cuba result in the main from sovietization of the Cuban economy. Soil erosion and soil abasement are the main problems in agriculture. These problems started primarily ascribable to the intensification of mechanized agriculture and the use of petrochemical herbicides and pesticides. [6] Agriculture is just one of the many environmental issues the is buck faces.\r\nIn price of the unload, â€Å"the harm caused by permanent crops to these lands is primarily collectible to a lack of crop rotation causation soil depletion, unequal agro-technical management and insufficient magnificence measures. ”[7] In 1970 La zafra de los diez millones, took place, in which the Cuban government attempted to break all historic breadstuff production records by producing a ten cardinal ton refined sugar harvest. [8] The government fell short of their goal by two tons, but by this point the damage was already done.\r\nBecause crops take so much nutrients from the land, farme rs alternate crops each year to appropriate the land to re bounce back. During la zafra de los diez millones crops were not alternated which took a enceinte toll on the land. In Cuba, poorly designed and implemented rural development policies have been a major contributor to the degradation of the country’s soils: Soil degradation continued apace with the rude practices that came to prevail in Cuba during the first half of the ordinal century as more and more everlasting(a) islands were brought under sugar advisee and livestock production.\r\nThere is rise evidence that the pace of soil deterioration increase during the second half of the century, principally because of the widespread borrowing of modern agricultural practices, particularly from the 1960s to the lately 1980s. As in the Soviet Union and naked(prenominal) socialist economies, the collectivisation of the rural sector was regarded as necessary for achieving the goals of a centrally planned curb econ omy. Collectivization would make possible economies of scale and bring the advantages of mechanization and modern scientific agriculture. 9]\r\nAfter the collectivization of land agrarian reforms were implemented to return the land to the state and to its’ citizens. But this shift in land ownership could have major environmental implications, specially after the fall of the Soviet Union. After the Soviets odd Cuba, Cuban farming suffered a shortage of trade agricultural goods; leaving Cuban farmers to use traditional farming practices and some more modern techniques (such as rip irrigation) that are more environmentally friendly: The post-Soviet agricultural model is less dependent on imported agricultural practices that had been abandoned for their alleged bashfulness: the large-scale use of beasts of burden, increased reliance on organic fertilizers and biological pest controls, the abandonment of fringy soils that had been brought under cultivation and made productive only by the intensive use of agricultural inputs, and a shift of urban labor to the countryside. [10]\r\n agree to Diaz-Briquets and Perez-Lopez, more important than this change in agricultural practices, is that transferring the control of lands to farmers who are closely tied it, â€Å"and whose economic social welfare result depend on the stewardship of the natural resource base, there is the expectation that the trend of soil deterioration…. may at least be slowed down…. [but] it is too early tell how successful the new agricultural policies will be. ”[11] At this point, many of Cuba’s natural resources are in danger of extinction.\r\nBecause Cuba has exported sugarcane as its main commodity, sugarcane has reset(p) natural phytology and fauna. There was a time before 1959 when over 30 different kinds of bananas grew on the island, but intimately of the banana trees have been replaced by sugarcane. Cuba’s crops and animals have been affected by pests and diseases introduced from abroad; coastal pollution and luxuriant hunting also present severe threats to wildlife populations. [12] Water aquifers have been contaminated by pollutants (and brine on the coasts) and their levels are declining out-of-pocket to nearly open-ended use.\r\nSimilarly, waterflows reaching the coasts are also full(prenominal)ly contaminated, which ceaselessly hurts coral reefs and breeding grounds. Dam and reservoir edifice has hurt coastal lagoons and mangroves: Cuba’s fresh water system (rivers/lakes/aquifers) has very serious problems. Under Castro’s policy of voluntad hidraulica, which called for not a single can of fresh water to â€Å"be lost” to the ocean, the government has built over 1,000 large and small dams passim the entire island, covering 1. 4% of Cuba’s territory.\r\nAlthough the benefits to Cuban agriculture are clear in wrong of increased irrigated land (close to 1 jillion hectares), the ec ologic effect has been quite negative in term of lowering the water’s oxygen level and increasing salinity. Dams have also blocked the dissemination of sediment and fresh water runoff over mangrove areas, contributing to a 30% honest reduction of mangrove coverage and bio kind loss[13] In fact, â€Å"the bays of Cuba are some of the well-nigh polluted in the world. Industrial, agricultural and human discharges into the sea, as well as de woodation for strip mining, have contributed to the pollution. [14] Water diversion to reservoirs is coupled to the â€Å"virtual destruction of the oyster bed and major decline in the fish catch in the Casilda coastal region of southern Santa Clara Province. ”[15] These factors, along with the excessive use of aquifer waters and wells used for sugar and citrus irrigation are contributing to the salinization of the water in Cuba.\r\nâ€Å"Extensive water logging of coastal aquifers has lead to salinization and soil erosion. It has been estimated in 1991 that 600,000 ha have infirm to modest salinization levels, while the remainder show high levels of salinization. [16] The main source of water pollution lies in the industrial facilities, warehouses, and workshops and service entities located around the bay. 53 industrial facilities are located in the ready proximity of the bay, and an opposite 84 industries produce waste that indirectly discharges into the bay through tributary streams. [17] These industrial areas include the port and the nickel industries that add to the contamination of the water supply. The port activity itself is also one of the major sources of contamination for the bay. It is estimated that the ships served in the port contract 150,000 tons of refuse per year. 18] Deforestation is also a factor contributing to the poor state of Cuba’s environment. Forests have not suffered nearly as much as the land, with saving efforts bringing Cubas forests back to their 1945 levels, b ut conservation of forests has not meant saving all woodlands. star of the main problems environmentalists have with deforestation in Cuba is the fact that many of the operational estimates regarding how much of the original forest cover remained before the revolution are based on rough figures made by observers with no credible statistical information.\r\nAccording to Eudel Eduardo Cepero: The irrational use of forests has become common practice under the Castro regime. As no current data are available on the actual total area of cover forest, the value of Cuba’s forest resources is unknown. Most of the remain natural forests are in poor condition from being overexploited. An average of 200 forest fires spend each year, affecting some 5,000 hectares of forest. Reforestation has been precarious, due to poor forest seeds, a low pick rate of plantings, and a narrow come out of forest species utilized. 19] The National Environmental Strategy offers statistics to support C epero’s claims by offering statistical information, but not listing sources to verify its facts; it also states that the forests in Cuba have grown over the last hardly a(prenominal) years, but that there is still much work to be done with regards to improving the forest cover in Cuba: Although the forest cover has increased constantly in the recent years †in the last 43 years increasing to a total coverage of 2, 696, 587. 9 hectares, bringing us to a plant index of 24. 54% in 2005 †after-effects still h venerable from years of irrational exploitation of Cuban forests which often eradicated our most valuable woodland resources…. Problems persist with the quality of most native forests as a consequence of prior mismanagement and exploitation †particularly in the most important watersheds. Problems also exist in the nation’s seedbed sources, which do not meet productivity or quality expectations.\r\nIn addition, a lack of updated forest managemen t plans, insufficient silviculture of plant areas, and insufficiencies and deficiencies in management plans continue to present challenges[20] The EAN suggests that more work be done to investigate invasive plant species that re threatening the native plants. It says that the excerpt rate of tree plantations and the success rate of trees emergence to full maturity have purifyd over the last a couple of(prenominal) years, but that the numbers are still substantially low when compared to the anticipated numbers.\r\nAlso, the range of forest species used in â€Å"forestry activities” has been inadequate. Also wretched from the effects of sovietization and the special period is the biological diversity of the island. â€Å"A substantial, unquantified loss of biodiversity exists, due, among other reasons, to improper management of certain ecosystems, the application of intensive farming, the marketing of exist species, as well as conditions making it well-fixed for impor tant genetic resources to leave the countryâ€Å". 21] chromatic reefs, mangroves, the original forest (which used to cover most of the island) and rainforests are ecosystems that are suffering in Cuba. According to the EAN, the leading causes of this loss of biodiversity are: [1] Changes, fragmentation, or destruction of habitat/ecosystems/landscapes due primarily to changes in land use and inadequate practices employed in fishing, harvest, and agricultural soil preparation, among others.\r\nOverexploitation of resources, for example fishing and forestry resources. [3] humiliation and contamination of soils, water, and the atmosphere. 4] Introduction of exotic invasive species that go or affect the functioning of ecosystems and native species. [5]Insufficient restrictive and control mechanisms to prevent and punish illegal activities, including criminal hunting and fishing, trade in threatened species and other natural resources. [6]Climate change and the resulting intensific ation of dry periods, the incidence of torrential rains, temperature increase, sea level rise, in addition to the strong suit and frequency of extreme natural disasters such as hurricanes. [7] Forest fires. [22]\r\nThe EAN lists the goals it wishes to achieve and the necessary steps that should be taken in order to achieve these goals. Among these goals are increasing the make sense of forest coverage to 26. 7% of national territory; have one million hectares of forest maintained by the National organization of Criterion and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management; complete National Forestry Planning in 2007; reduce amount of lands affected by forest fires; 69% of forest cover used as a damp to protect coastal areas, soils, water and conservation forests; management program for invasive plant species. 23] Before the Special Period much of the air pollution in Cuba was the result of its’ dependence on Soviet and Eastern European vehicles and factories that were contami nating the air: Urban pollution, could be partly traced to Cuba’s extreme reliance on inefficient and highly contaminating Soviet and Eastern European-built vehicles and factories. In the agricultural sector, a practice that resulted in much environmental damage was the promotion of Sovietstyle, large-scale state farm production model based on widespread mechanization, heavy chemical inputs (e. . , fertilizers and herbicides), and grand irrigation[24] Air pollution in Cuba has increased significantly in the years since the Soviets left the island. â€Å"\r\nThe absence of palliation measures for emissions, inadequate control measures on the levels of noise generated by different activities, scarce information about the noisome effects on health and social behavior, the poor technical state of transport, and a lack of standards for emissions are also present. [25] There are few environmental reports available to the public that are based on analytical information that is c ollected systematically in the field and processed in laboratories. Cuban scientists state that: The two main sources of sulfuric gases within the metropolis limits are the old thermal exponent plants of Tallapiedra in the Old Havana neighborhood and the Antonio Maceo plant in Regla, across the Bay of Havana. In both of these neighborhoods they preserve the highest level of environmental pollution, measuring up to 7. milligrams of sulfides per full-blooded decimeter per day at the Tallapiedra Power lay…. Three secondary sources in the metallurgic, chemical and wind industries were also associated with air pollution, all of them located in the environs of Havana Bay. [26] The Ministry of Public Health, better enable for this purpose than other branches of government, has produced or published few precise documents dealing with health conditions and environmental degradation.\r\n treat oxides, undesirable residues of combustion that are produced mostly in power plants when sulfur- well-situated fuels are burned, create respiratory problems and cause acid rain. Cuba replaced part of the vanished Soviet fuel imports of the late 1980s with domestic crude containing roughly sixsome percent sulfur. It is used mostly in power plants and to run cement factories. [27] Diaz-Briquets and Perez-Lopez point out that the promoter of transportation in Cuba are getting old and, due to poor maintenance and inadequate resources to obtain parts, they are polluting and becoming harmful to the environment.\r\nTheir conclusion is that â€Å"As long as the economic crisis continues, Cuba will not be able to modernize its fleet of cars, trucks, and buses (other than for those few vehicles serving the tourist industry)”. [28] If the Cuban government would capture media to spread environmental education to the citizens of Cuba and to the rest of the world, not only would it help efforts within Cuba to protect and improve the environment but it would also help effor ts to improve the environment on a global level. The strategy points out that Article 27 of the Constitution of the commonwealth says:\r\nThe state protects the nation’s environment and natural resources and recognizes their close relationship with sustainable economic and social development to make human life more rational and to ensure the survival, well being and warranter of present and future generations. It is the responsibility of proper governmental agencies to apply this policy. It is the duty of the citizens to contribute to the protection of the water, atmosphere, and the conservation of soil, wild flora and fauna and all the rich potential of nature. [29]\r\nSince Cuba has declared a national reign over its natural resources and is actively working to renovate and protect them, the state must also cause rights over the country’s environment and resources. Similarly, Cuba must develop a national tendency towards â€Å" integrate natural resource manage ment, commercial environmental management, and urban environmental management as fundamental traits of Cuban environmental management. ”[30] The current embargo the United States has placed on Cuba keeps the island from growing economically.\r\nWhich means that , since the economy is not changing or being stimulated, the people of Cuba are suffering. Meaning, because man poor, urban people cannot afford periodic necessities, they resort to alternate ways to get common goods; even if it means depleting the natural resources. With the current government in Cuba and the restrictions caused by the embargo, it is hard to think that the Cuban environment will improve much in the next decade or two; but the National Environmental Strategy offers hope to the idea that Cuba’s environment will improve.\r\nThe â€Å"National Environment Strategy 2007-2010” is dedicated to improving the environmental conditions of Cuba and determination a way to meet sustainable social an d economic development goals. The eradication of extreme poverty is an achievement rooted in the very foundations of the radical process. Achieving this is essential to the pursuit of environmental sustainability, first and foremost because extreme poverty cannot coexist with a reasoning(a) environment. The solution to this challenge is one of the principal achievements that Cuba can effectively show to the world. 31] The future of environmental reforms in Cuba will be influenced by a variety of cultural, economic, social, and political factors. Ultimate success or failure, however, will likely depend more on innate laws, money, human capital, public involvement in environmental decision making, use of incentive-based tools, and international support. Strong environmental laws are a necessary foundation for sustainable development, but success will only derive with the continuing political will to implement and apply them.\r\n'