New Cuban Initiative for Agricultural Diversity

Havana, Feb 13. – The Ministry of Agriculture has a new program for facilitating the protection and sustainable use of Cuba''s phytogenetic resources, as well as contributing to food security and environmental conservation.

The program, "Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity in Cuba's Biosphere Reserves: Connecting Managed and Natural Landscapes," will be implemented during the 2011-2016 period through the Alejandro de Humboldt Institute for Tropical Agriculture Research.

Leonor Castiñeiras, researcher and coordinator of the project, said that initially it will include the Biosphere Reserves in Sierra del Rosario and Cuchillas del Toa, but the objective "is to gradually incorporate it into the other parts of the country included in that category."

The project is sponsored by the UN Development Program, the Global Environment Fund, the International Biodiversity Agency, and several Cuban institutions.(Prensa Latina)