“Nature is not a place to visit; it is home.” If you Google phrases about nature, you will find hundreds. Profound, visionary, fertile, wise, inspiring. This work by poet, essayist, and activist Gary Snyder encompasses many interpretations and leads us to the concept of biodiversity: in short, all types of life on Earth, interconnected and including us. The web of life.
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)—established at the Rio Summit in 1992, in force since December 1993, and ratified by 196 countries—defines it as the diversity within and between species, as well as of ecosystems, including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi. These levels work together to create life on the planet and maintain complex interactions.
Biodiversity, nature, home. Let’s think about everything from forests to the air we breathe, the water we use daily and the water we drink, the great rainforests, wetlands, lakes, and rivers. Let’s think about landscapes and aesthetics, forest bathing and picnics or at the sea, but also about food and agriculture, tourism, energy, economics, active ingredients, and medicines; terms like ecosystem services, renewable natural capital, carbon sinks, and gene banks.
In short, we live in nature—even in cities—and depend significantly on the services and resources it provides.
Today, the essential relationship between ecosystem health and human health, well-being, and future (including achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs) is clear, and at the same time, biodiversity is our greatest natural defense against climate change. Species diversity is key to the balance of the global ecosystem.
In recent decades, the environmental crisis has manifested itself in the effects of pollution and climate change, the disappearance or deterioration of habitats and ecosystems, and the resulting loss of biodiversity, which, in turn, in a vicious cycle, exacerbates the processes that cause it.
More than one billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods. More than 80% of human food comes from plants. (UN)
“The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat depend on healthy natural ecosystems. The same is true of the global economy. An estimated US$44 trillion of global value added (more than half of global GDP) is generated in industries that rely on nature and its services.” (World Bank)
Some 4 billion people depend on the ecosystem services of wetlands, which cover 6% of the Earth’s surface and provide shelter for 40% of animal and plant species. They act as reservoirs and filters for water. Coastal wetlands provide protection from extreme natural events and marine erosion. (UN)
About 500 million people depend on fish living in coral reefs as their primary food source. These ecosystems are home to more than 4,000 species of fish. (UNEP)
Almost 200 million people depend on coral reefs for protection from storm surges and waves. (Coral Reef Alliance)
Cuba shares with other island territories traits such as being sites of high species concentrations, high percentages of endemism (around 40% in the Cuban archipelago), and a greater sensitivity of species to extinction.*
Globally, the IUCN reports 169,420 species assessed for the Red List of Threatened Species—an inventory of the conservation status of species, also known as the “barometer of life”—with 47,187 in threatened categories.
In Cuba, with more than 36,700 species reported to date—including 20,694 from the Animalia kingdom (56%), 8,897 from the Plantae kingdom (24%), and 5,371 from the Fungi kingdom—35% of those assessed have been categorized as threatened with extinction.
In the archipelago, 7,251 vascular flora taxa have been reported, with 254 botanical families and 1,724 genera. The endemism of the native vascular flora is close to 3,000 species (49%), and almost 50% of the taxa are threatened to some degree. It is one of the richest and, at the same time, one of the most vulnerable floras in the world.
According to experts, Cuba ranks fourth among islands in the world in terms of the richness of its flora, but it ranks first in terms of the number of species per square kilometer.
In numbers, the comparison is as follows: Cuba, with 105,007 km², reports indices of 0.08 and 0.03 in plant richness/area and endemism richness/area, surpassing Borneo (743,330 km², 0.03 and 0.01), New Guinea (885,780 km², 0.02 and 0.01), and Madagascar (587,041 km², 0.02 and 0.01).
In a recent panel on the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22), Dr. Eldis R. Bécquer, chief curator of the herbarium at the National Botanical Garden and member of the Cuban Plant Specialist Group, noted that the Catalog of Cuban Plants will be published at the end of 2024, with contributions from both domestic and international botanists. When asked if there are any plants yet to be discovered in our archipelago, Bécquer said that between 2003 and 2023, 152 new species were described, and a dozen more are in the process.
The richness of Cuba’s biodiversity is reflected in other facts and figures:
Amphibians, with 71 species, show an endemism rate of 94%. This is the highest diversity of this class of vertebrates in the insular Caribbean, behind only Hispaniola, with five more species.
While globally, 41% of the evaluated amphibian species are threatened (more than 2,800), in 15 countries in the Caribbean, Mesoamerica, and the tropical Andes (nine of them islands), the rates are higher than the global rate. In Cuba, 70% are in some threatened category.
Among other factors affecting amphibians, such as land-use change, habitat loss (many are microendemic), climate change (they are especially sensitive due to their ectothermic nature), pollution, fires, and invasive species, specialists mention emerging diseases such as chytridiomycosis.
Regarding birdlife, Cuba accounts for 56% of the species from the insular Caribbean and 16% of the species are endemic to the region. To date, 405 species have been recorded (by residence category, 28 species are endemic, 150 breed in the archipelago, 287 are migratory, 35 are threatened, and six are introduced).
Cuba and Hispaniola are the islands with the greatest bird diversity in the insular Caribbean, with a large number of endemic birds. Due to its geographic location, Cuba is also an important stopover area for birds that migrate seasonally between North America and the Caribbean and South America (with the northern keys of Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey, Guanahacabibes, Matanzas, the northern keys of Villa Clara, Gibara, and Artemisa-Havana as the main arrival regions).
In the panel held on May 22, Dr. Hiram González Alonso of the IES (Institute of Higher Education) highlighted that both resident and migratory birds are important as biological controllers, seed disseminators, pollinators, and agents of ecosystem balance.
The specialist emphatically pointed to illegal capture and trade as the main threats to birds, which are also affected by extensive agriculture and mining, deforestation, and pollution, which lead to the loss of habitats and feeding, breeding, and nesting sites.
González revealed that surveys and interviews with specialists and forest rangers confirmed that birds were captured in at least 98 locations in Cuba between September and November 2021.
In the marine environment, 98% of the edge and 50% of the bottom of the island’s shelf are covered by coral reefs. According to various sources, mangroves (a refuge for species, a barrier against waves during extreme weather events, and soil protection against phenomena such as salinization) occupy approximately 5% of the national territory, represent 11% of the forested area, and are present on between 60 and 70% of the coasts.
Fish—both sharks and rays, as well as bony fish—and anthozoans, primarily scleractinian corals (stony or hard corals) are the taxonomic groups with the highest number of threatened species in the marine environment.
In 2024, all five turtles that inhabit Cuban waters were in some threat category: the green and loggerhead turtles, endangered (EN); the hawksbill and leatherback turtles, critically endangered (CR); and the olive ridley, vulnerable (VU).
“Three-quarters of terrestrial habitats and approximately 66% of ocean habitats have been significantly altered. More than a third of the world’s land surface and nearly 75% of freshwater resources are used for agricultural or livestock production. Climate change worsens the effect of other stressors on nature and our well-being.” (WWF)
“Biodiversity is the living fabric of our planet. It is the foundation of human well-being now and in the future, and its rapid decline threatens nature and people alike. It is vital to transform people’s roles, actions, and relationships with biodiversity to halt and reverse its decline.” (UNESCO)
“It is impossible to stabilize the climate without protecting ecosystems.” (Earth Commission)
Among the most diverse groups of Cuban fauna are insects: 26 orders, 450 families, and some 9,000 species with 40% endemism.
Within the Insecta class, we look primarily at the Lepidoptera order (1,580 species, 19.8% endemic: 203 butterflies and 1,377 moths). But the order Coleoptera (2,700 species, 56% endemism), Odonata (dragonflies, with 85 species and six endemic species), Phasmids or Phasmatodea (20 species, six endemic species), and Hymenoptera (among which bees stand out, with 100 species and 80% endemism) are also diverse.
Of terrestrial mollusks—one of the most diverse groups on a global scale—some 1,400 species have been recorded in the archipelago, with high rates of microlocalization and endemism (around 95%, one of the highest rates of malacological endemism in the world), with greater biodiversity in the mountain ranges.
Among mammals, Cuba shares a regional trait: a high percentage of this class disappeared in the past. Excluding bats, 88% of the terrestrial mammal fauna in the Antilles is extinct, with rates reaching 100% in orders such as Pilosa (which includes, among others, anteaters and sloths) and Primates.
In Cuba, 80% of species in the Soricomorpha order (which includes, for example, moles and shrews) have become extinct; 100% of Primates and Pilosa have become extinct; 53% of Rodentia and 24% of Chiroptera (bats), for an average of 45%. But these are not processes of the past, and, as worldwide, biodiversity continues to be lost due to pressure on ecosystems, habitats, and species.
Today, 34 species of terrestrial mammals inhabit the archipelago: 26 species of bats (six endemic), seven species of hutias (endemic), and one species of almiquí (endemic). In the prologue to Mammals of Cuba, Gilberto Silva Taboada noted that “Cuba is the country with the largest known number of native species in the insular Caribbean, but it is also the one that has suffered the greatest loss of these species, and those that have managed to survive today face varying degrees of extinction threat.” Comparing the diversity of insular mammals with that of the mainland, the number is remarkably low.
However, as noted in the Red Book of Vertebrates of Cuba, “there are several lineages exclusive to the Antilles, and there is a high level of endemism.” It also states that “if we exclude bats, 75% of [Cuban] mammal species are in danger of extinction.”
Regarding one of the most beloved animals (which completes the total of 35 mammal species), the manatee (Trichechus manatus)—large, entirely herbivorous, long-lived, and with long periods of sexual maturity, reproduction, and gestation (12 to 14 months)—the harmful human pressure (poaching, pollution, prohibited fishing gear, etc.) that negatively affects its populations has been reported in recent years.
Specialists point out that it is difficult to know the conservation status of the species. Some threats to biodiversity:
• Continued fragmentation and loss of ecosystems and natural habitats due to anthropogenic pressure.
• Events and phenomena such as hurricanes and forest fires (natural or human-caused). Climate change aggravated by island status.
• Extensive agriculture and mining.
• Indiscriminate hunting and illegal trade (in the case of capture, with practices that cause mortality or eliminate nesting and shelter sites).
• Deforestation (affecting nesting, feeding, and shelter sites). Poor forest management.
• Environmental pollution (discharge of waste and non-biodegradable materials into aquatic and forest ecosystems).
• Expansion of urban settlements. • Interaction and competition with invasive alien species (plants and animals).
• Although legislation exists to protect ecosystems, flora, and fauna, there is a lack of resources and personnel to implement and make it effective.
Let the reader choose their favorite species, ecosystems, or landscapes (and let’s not lose sight of the fact that the geological history of this land also plays a role in our natural environment): the showy species of the Polymita genus (coveted, threatened, and even endangered) and its queen, the Polymita picta, or the equally beautiful ligus…
The Cuban zunzuncito (the smallest bird in the world, 5-6 cm from beak to tail); the rare and crystalline Cuban Greta; and other diverse butterflies and moths; the isolated ferminia with its distinctive song; the muleteer, the tocororo, the goatherd, the Starnoenas partridge, the woodpecker, the parrot…
The mogotes and poljas of Viñales, the forested expanses of Guanahacabibes, remote high areas of Guamuhaya, the Sierra Maestra, the Sierra del Rosario, or Sagua-Moa-Baracoa; the Jardines de la Reina, the terraces of Maisí or Zapata…
It is a rich yet fragile natural heritage, whose conservation is in the hands of everyone, citizens and institutions. We must be aware of this wealth and that, once a part of it deteriorates or is lost, it is difficult to recover. Or it never returns.
Source: www.cubadebate.cu
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