The environmental order of the Cuban mountains. Challenges and opportunities for sustainability

Abstract

The mountains are connoted by their high environmental values. In Cuba they represent 18% of the territory, they shelter 70% of the endemic, but also, therein lies 6% of the total population, which forces us to think of a conducive coexistence between man and the values of that medium. The project A landscape approach to the conservation of threatened mountain ecosystems (CP), when proposing to conserve biodiversity with an innovative approach at the landscape scale, also defined the application of environmental ordering to bridge the gaps between use and conservation, from high rationality positions. The present work, explicit on the Cuban methodology of environmental management and the precisions made according to its application in the mountains. The exercise demonstrated the complexities of the process, which was exacerbated in the elaboration of natural characterization, since it involved very detailed views of the components of the environmental system, in particular, climate and biological diversity, to form coherent and representative environmental units, where the evaluation of territorial limitations is carried out, as well as the best management options, according to the corresponding legal and regulatory framework. Experience showed high-efficiency results, while providing key essentials to maintain long-term resource potential, expanding rehabilitation and conservation actions based on landscape connectivity, which allows Cuban mountains to provide better opportunities by harmonizing territorial functions in achieving adequate quality in biodiversity , the population and the territory in general