A statement specified that the previous year, 118 sites of geological interest or geosites related to 49 nature tourism products, received 151,813 visitors, raising 22,152,966 pesos (one dollar is equivalent to 124 Cuban pesos at the official exchange rate).
This information was recently announced at the National Geoparks Committee, which met at the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) with the presence of 13 organizations of the Central State Administration, the message states.
At the meeting it was explained that the geosites approved and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba already total 504 throughout the national territory. Currently, work is underway on new proposals for the provinces of Artemisa, Havana, Mayabeque and Santiago de Cuba, as well as a set of geosites located on the marine platform of the archipelago.
For the occasion, the recent approval of the Gran Piedra Geopark was valued, on April 26, managed by the Eastern Center for Ecosystems and Biodiversity (BIOECO) and which includes the Sierra de la Gran Piedra, the Heights of Santa María de Loreto and part of the Mar Verde-Baconao Coastal Terraces, all in the province of Santiago de Cuba.
This space covers an area of 571.1 square kilometers (km2). Likewise, it was mentioned that work is being done on two more projects: one in Guamuhaya, in the south-central part of Cuba, and another in Sierra de Cubitas, north of Camagüey (east).
The approval process of geosites and geoparks continues with the increase in geological knowledge of the island, reaching greater significance with the approval of the General Law for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and Natural Heritage, where the approved geoparks are at the same time natural heritage. of the nation.
Furthermore, geosites can be added to the list of monuments and thus become the nation’s natural heritage.
In the session, the convenience of having the Gran Piedra geopark approved for the next International Nature Tourism Event (Turnat 2024-September) organized by the Ministry of Tourism (Mintur), and which will be held in the south of Eastern Cuba, was highlighted.
For this occasion, the same geologists from the company Geominera Oriente who prepared the geopark file, provide technical information on the geological values that this strip of Cuba has.
The statement explained, among a wide list of topics of interest, that the ambassador of the
Cuban National Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Dulce Buergo, highlighted the work being done to protect Cuba’s geological heritage.
These tasks are in line with the UNESCO International Earth Sciences and Geoparks Programme.
He also highlighted Cuba’s favorable conditions for managing geoparks with the organizational structures of government that exist in the territories and the potential that exists through the use of the Latin American network and the establishment of bilateral links with the more than 10 geoparks in the region.
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