Environmentalists Fear American Travelers Will Ruin Cuba's Biodiversity Carolyn Beeler - PRI's The World
go to original March 29, 2016

As Cuba-US relations thaw, environmentalists on both sides of the Florida Straits are worried about how an influx of American tourists may impact ecosystems that have been relatively protected up until now.

This story is based on a radio interview. Listen to the full interview.

The island has been called an “accidental Eden” in the Caribbean, and boasts pockets of great biodiversity on land and at sea.

“One of the perhaps unintended by-products of the embargo and the sanctions in Cuba was to keep it free from the hordes of tourists, the heavy industry and the development that has in many ways ruined lots of other countries in the Caribbean area,” reporter and Emerson College journalist-in-residence Doug Struck said.

While pollution is thick in Havana, better preserved areas are havens for wildlife and plant species. The island boasts at least two species not seen elsewhere: The bee hummingbird, an iridescent beauty considered the smallest bird in the world, and the Cuban crocodile, which hunts in packs.

The coral in the waters surrounding the island are relatively pristine, having largely been spared the fertilizer run-off and pollution that has bleached reefs elsewhere in the Caribbean, including Jamaica, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

European tourists have long traveled to Cuba, and tens of thousands of Americans already travel on official tours each year.

But environmentalists and scientists are worried about the huge new influx of visitors expected when travel restrictions are lifted for all Americans.

Read the rest at PRI's The World

Related: 10 Things You Should Know Before Traveling to Cuba

Photo: Quartz

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