The protection of the environment in Cuba finds solid footholds in a regulatory framework adjusted to the peculiarities of the island that today faces the severe impacts of climate change.

The government's will to promote sustainable development is evidenced in the design and implementation of specific policies such as the Natural Resources and Environment Macroprogram, which, in turn, responds to the priorities established in the National Plan for Economic and Social Development of the nation.

The general director of the Environment, Odalys Goicochea, also recognized how the regulations are articulated with the existing demands and social problems.

The State Plan for Confronting Climate Change, known as the Life Task, for example, underwent adjustments in order to provide more specific attention to social aspects, and to the need to involve scientists and the population in solving climate change. community problems, he said.

Several strategies, including the National Environmental Strategy, approved for the period 2021-2025, and whose application will allow measuring the progress made in this area thanks to indicators such as the ecological footprint index, the environmental quality index, and climate resilience, give account of the efforts made in the regulatory field.

Another initiative, such as the one that establishes the transition towards a circular economy, stimulates the optimal use of natural resources and all the raw materials that are available today.

The highest expression of Cuba's political willingness to care for the environment lies in the recent approval by the National Assembly (Parliament) of the Natural Resources and Environment System Law.

This legislation, in addition to being in line with international treaties and commitments assumed in this area, is based on the fundamental principles of environmental law reflected in the declarations of various summits on the subject.

In addition to other issues, it regulates the management of forest systems, prioritizes the fight against desertification and land degradation, all with the purpose of halting the loss of biological diversity.

According to experts, one of its greatest strengths lies in the ecosystem approach of the standard, as it promotes better procedures for the integrated management of land, water and living resources, promoting their conservation and sustainable use in a fair and equitable manner.

An outstanding example in relation to the projects undertaken in Cuba is Mi Costa, a program that seeks to prioritize the rehabilitation of coastal wetlands such as swampy forests and grasslands, mangroves and the hydrological flows that interconnect them with seagrasses and coral reefs.

The initiative seeks to strengthen the resilience of coastlines to climate change along 1,300 kilometers of the island's geography in pursuit, also, of favoring the natural recharge of underground aquifers and reducing saline intrusion.

In addition, other actions to restore the coral reef as part of the Ecovalor International Collaboration Project benefited many of these ecosystems of the insular geography.

In western Matanzas, for example, coral nurseries of the elkhorn and staghorn species were set up using various techniques, while constant checks are maintained to prevent the growth of algae in them, Luis said in a timely manner. Muiño, at the head of the rehabilitation group.

Also, the work carried out by the National System of Protected Areas, which to date totals more than one hundred, becomes a fundamental task in the preservation of biological diversity on the island.

For this year's celebration, Cuba adopted the motto launched by the United Nations Environment Program, which is One Earth, Citma officials disclosed.

One of the motivations of the day, they abounded, is the thirtieth anniversary of the words of the Commander in Chief, Fidel Castro, at the Earth Summit in 1992, where he predicted the situation currently suffered throughout the world with the crises in the health, and those generated by pollution and climate change.