Castro the Environmental Conservationist?

[Dover]

Castro the Conservationist? By Default or Design, Cuba Largely Pristine
Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News

August 4, 2006
Will Cuban President Fidel Castro be remembered primarily as a man of the people, an authoritarian tyrant—or a conservationist?

Castro handed power to his brother last week to undergo emergency intestinal surgery. His health remains uncertain, fueling rampant speculation about his legacy.

Some experts say his environmental policies may be among his greatest achievements.

Though Cuba is economically destitute, it has the richest biodiversity in the Caribbean. Resorts blanket many of its neighbors, but Cuba remains largely undeveloped, with large tracts of untouched rain forest and unspoiled reefs (map of Cuba).

The country has signed numerous international conservation treaties and set aside vast areas of land for government protection.

But others say Cuba's economic underdevelopment has played just as large a role...cont'd

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060804-castro-legacy.html

[Vogon_Glory]

1. By Design or Default A Lot of Cuban Habitat HAS Been Preserved

By design or default a lot of Cuban habitat HAS been preserved--and I think that the Gulf and the Caribbean is the better for it.

What worries me is that a corrupt, post-Castro Cuban government would gleefully ignore Cuba's biological riches in favor of quick-buck development schemes for tourist resorts and badly thought-through aquaculture schemes as well as reintroduce chemical fertilizers into Cuban agricultural run-off.