Cuba News and Information

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The 5th International Symposium on Wetlands, kicked off this Thursday in Playa Larga, province of Matanzas, and will take place through October 10.

The event is being attended by specialists from some 20 countries who will exchange their experiences on communitarian development, ecological education and international cooperation for the preservation of the planet’s 1,459 wetlands.

One of the main objectives of the gathering is to come up with a course of action to implement legal, scientific, economical and social measures to foment the sustainable use of the natural resources of these complex and fragile ecosystems.

The Cienaga de Zapata wetland in Matanzas is the biggest and best- preserved wetland in the Caribbean. It has been granted the designation of Ramsar Site and Biosphere Reserve and nominated to be declared a UNESCO Natural Patrimony of Humanity site.

Ramsar, a city in Iran, hosted the 1971 gathering where the first intergovernmental treaty for the protection and rational use of wetlands and their resources.

Cuba was chosen to host this year’s event in recognition of its efforts and investments to preserve biodiversity despite more than four decades of US blockade.