By Tom Palmer
I've been wondering about Cuba's environment for the past few years.
It appears I'm not alone.
The New York Times recently published an article about a scientific
conference called to discuss the environmental future - at least as far
as wildlife protection is concerned - of Cuba, the largest island in the
West Indies.
U.S. travel policy being under the thrall of Miami politics as it is,
seeing the island's wildlife first-hand to report on this myself seems
unlikely. But based on reports I've read, I've had some concerns.
From what I can gather, whatever wildlife protection that has occurred
in Cuba has, to a certain extent, occurred by default.
The Castro regime hasn't been that receptive to wholesale commercial
development, and because the Castroites run the island as it suits them,
that's pretty much that.
As a result, large natural areas remain intact and relatively
undeveloped, according to the reports I've read.
That condition has likely helped to protect some of the native flora and
fauna, which includes species found nowhere else on the planet.
The most noticeable are the birds, which attract birdwatching tour
companies from all over the world (except the United States, of course).
Cuba's 21 species of endemic birds include the bee hummingbird, the
world's smallest bird, as well the Zapata wren, Fernandina's flicker,
Cuban parakeet, Cuban kite, Cuban pygmy owl, Cuban trogon, Cuban tody
and Cuban solitaire.
Cuba also has unusual reptiles, such as the Cuban crocodile; mammals,
including a fish-eating bat; and endemic species of insects ranging from
butterflies to ants and roaches.
There are, of course, also a number of endemic species of plants.
The existence of unique species in Cuba is not surprising.
All islands of any size have or have had species that are unique to that
island.
The best-known example of this for most people is Australia, with its
kangaroos, koalas and kookaburas.
The dodo, a bird about the height of a turkey but much stockier, once
inhabited the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Sailors were
hungry, dodos couldn't fly and eventually the phrase "dead as a dodo"
entered our language, in memory of the dodo's extinction.
Here in Polk County we have our own former islands on the Lake Wales
Ridge, where plants and animals found nowhere else on the planet exist,
though sometimes a bit precarious-ly. Eighty-five percent of the
original habitat has been cleared or paved.
That is why I'm excited about the prospects of what could happen in Cuba.
It could turn into an ecotourism center, the Costa Rica of the West
Indies, as well as a model for sustainable development that could
provide jobs and income without wrecking the island.
This may be a hard sell when the fast-buck artists descend on the
island, but at least there's an opportunity.
As important as wildlife protection is, it's only part of the
environmental story in Cuba.
I've read that the island's environmental infrastructure, such as sewer
plants and stormwater treatment systems, is of about the same vintage
and condition as the automobiles.
We have plenty of examples in Florida's recent and current history of
how not to deal with pollution to appreciate the importance of modern
pollution-control technology to the protection of lakes, rivers and bays.
There should be a conference devoted to that issue as well.
PARALLELS WITH RUSSIA
As I was thinking about Cuba, I was thinking about the Kamchatka
Peninsula in the easternmost area of the former Soviet Union, another
communist dictatorship that inadvertently created a great nature preserve.
This area - more than three times the size of Florida - was closed to
everyone for decades because it was classified as a military security
zone to protect a nuclear submarine base.
After the Soviet Union fell, scientists visited the place and were
awestruck by the diversity of wildlife.
Now the Kamchatka Peninsula, which is billed as "Russia's Eden'' in
tourist brochures, offers tourists a chance to see active volcanoes and
brown bears, go whale watching and birdwatching or climb a mountain.
The salmon fishing's supposed to be pretty good, too.
[ Tom Palmer can be reached at 863-802-7535 or tom.palmer@theledger.com.
Read more views on the environment at http://environment.theledger.com. ]
http://www.theledger.com/article/20080108/COLUMNISTS0503/801080383/1016/SPORTS
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