2023-11-09 14:30:00
Half a thousand residents of Playa Cajío are protagonists of actions aimed at achieving resilience to climate change there, thanks to the International Project Coastal Resilience to Climate Change through ecosystem-based adaptation (Mi Costa), according to Mercedes Niurka Rodríguez. Vázquez, community leader in charge of the project.
With the Institute of Marine Sciences (Icimar), the Environment Agency and Citma as executing entities, the Mi Costa Project was implemented in this area almost a year ago.
With a duration of eight years in its implementation phase and 22 in the sustainability stage, it has national scope, covering seven provinces, 24 municipalities and seven coastal settlements where it is proposed to establish coastal adaptation actions, which in the medium and long term can be replicated in other coastal areas of the country, explains Yaimé Valoria Álvarez, specialist at Citma de Güira de Melena.
Meanwhile, Mirella Acosta Lorenzo, Citma coordinator in the southern town, highlighted that the fundamental objective of the project is “to increase the capacity for resistance to the effects of climate change in coastal communities and threatened ecosystems, through the implementation of Ecosystem-Based Adaptation. (ABE), building local community capacity for adaptation and integrating ABE within local and national planning for coastal management.”
Pursues the comprehensive rehabilitation of the functions of the coastal wetland (mangroves, swamp grasslands and swamp forests) for the protection of the coastline, as well as the increase in technical and institutional capacity for adaptation to climate change in coastal communities, governments and sectors. economical.
The recovery and strengthening of mangroves and swamp forests will dissipate the energy of extreme waves and strong winds, while improving the availability and quality of water in addition to reducing the risks of droughts, floods, salinization of waters and soils, essential if we take into account that Güira de Melena stands out among the most important productive centers in the country.
Comprehensive monitoring of the quality of drinking and marine water, as well as surrounding seagrasses and reefs, will allow calculating the impact of rehabilitation actions, assured Acosta Lorenzo.
everyone’s task
Involving the population of that area so prone to the impact of meteorological phenomena is also a priority. For this reason, there is an attached classroom at the Julio Sanguily Primary School, in that settlement, with the objective that residents and the municipal government can develop and strengthen their capacities to adapt to climate change, through training and the use of environmental products. climate information for the locality, prepared from sectoral monitoring systems and community early warning systems.
The population has already carried out several actions. The cleaning of ditches, streets, and the collection of solid waste stands out, tasks that must be maintained for the project to truly have the desired effect.
Meanwhile, the school’s circle of interest has been directly linked to the preservation of the environment, together with the Güira de Melena Management Unit. Highlights include house-to-house visits, community work and gender workshops with Popular Education methodology, led by Master Damaris Espinosa Acosta, director of the Municipal University Center (CUM).
Likewise, the University of Artemisa has joined the activities, such as the one carried out recently with the participation of the Amateur Artists Movement of the University Student Federation, the Sports Movement, the Chair of the Elderly of the CUM and the Project Management Unit My Coast.
Yusdiel León Castillo, professor at CUM, said that the objective of these exchanges is to encourage the conservation and preservation of the environment.
The rehabilitation of 12,388 hectares of mangrove and 2,916 hectares of swamp forests; improving the quality of drinking water by reducing saline intrusion; a better monitoring system; the incorporation of adaptation measures to climate change in territorial, sectoral and national development plans; They are one of the stated purposes of Mi Costa, a project that little by little returns, with popular participation, the splendor and capacity for resistance to our coastal areas.
#coast #resilience #climate #change