Por Redacción TV Yumurí 
Cuba will present today, October 23, in Colombia its National Program on Biological Diversity (PNDB) that defines the objectives, goals and lines of action prioritized in the country in this area until 2030.
The presentation of the strategy will take place in the Páramos room of the Valle del Pacífico Events Center, where the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP16) has been in session since October 21, and will be in charge of directors and specialists from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (Citma).
According to what Lourdes Coya, the expert in Environmental Policy at Citma, told Prensa Latina, the Caribbean nation is one of the 26 countries that fulfilled the commitment to deliver its National Strategy or Program to address the loss of biological diversity, prior to the COP-16.
She also commented that the updated PNDB, aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted during the previous COP, was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba on July 24 with a projection until 2030.
The expert said that the Cuban government has expressed its express willingness to address the problem of biodiversity loss and assumes the commitments made within the framework of agreements and other international processes.
She assured that the institutional, legislative and programmatic supports of the country are included in the Constitution of the Republic and has several regulations such as Law 150 of the Natural Resources and Environment System, the National Environmental Strategy and the State Plan for Confronting Climate Change.
Regarding Cuba’s vulnerability, he mentioned that the archipelago is part of one of the 35 biodiversity hotspots on the planet, which represent regions with an exceptionally high concentration of ecosystems, species and endemisms.
The Cuban territory is home to the largest number of plant and vertebrate species in the Antilles and is home to a high percentage of exclusive species, he said.
He also warned that the disappearance of natural habitats, among other causes, has caused the extinction and deterioration of many plant and animal populations.
“Cuba’s insularity and the morphology of its coasts, 70 percent covered by mangroves, 20 percent by sandy coasts or beaches and 10 percent by rocky coasts or cliffs, increases vulnerability to climate change.The large extension of the coastline covered by low and floodable areas makes the vulnerability to the impact of rising sea levels very high,” he said.
COP16 will continue until November 1st with the presence of more than 190 delegations from around the world. (ALH)
Translated by Casterman Medina de Leon