'The Song of the Birds Returns to Cuba’s Gulf Coast' | Adaptation Fund | 2018

When Vicente Núñez noticed several years ago that Cuba’s southwestern gulf coastline and its rich plant and wildlife were disappearing, he knew something had to be done.

 

He experimented by replanting different types of mangroves. Further actions materialized with the arrival of a local scientist known as the “Mangrove Fairy” and a project in 2014 funded by the Adaptation Fund and carried out by the UN Development Programme and Cuban Environment Agency.

 

“I started to plant and grow the mangrove to call attention to the necessity of its restoration. (Dr. Leda Menéndez, the late Cuban mangrove researcher) came with the project and taught me that the mangrove is competitive, that I shouldn’t plant three together. Today we are planting through different methods. With our hands-on experience, together with the scientists who have the theory we can help in the protection of the coastline,” said Núñez, 72, of the Forest Company in Artemisa Province’s Cajío coast.

 

Learn more about the UNDP-supported AF-funded project 'Reduction of vulnerability to coastal flooding through ecosystem-based adaptation in the south of Artemisa and Mayabeque provinces' here.