Why work in Cuba?

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and the 17

The unique issue with Cuba is the changing political and economic situation in the country. As the embargo is ending and tourism is increasing, more demands will be placed on Cuba’s natural resources. Coastal areas are highly desirable for businesses and residences, raising the threat that these areas might disappear, at least as far as manatees are concerned. Currently, manatee ecology and habitat use is poorly understood in Cuba due to the difficulty of conducting research in Cuba and the inaccessibility of these habitats. This is what makes our project so important. By determining the factors that influence manatees’ use of a particular area (availability of food, access to freshwater, adequate shelter, etc.), we can identify areas other than our study sites that could be valuable manatee habitats. This, in turn, allows us to determine which areas are a priority to protect.

Caribbean manatees are an endangered subspecies of the West Indian manatee. Therefore, it is vitally important that we protect the areas they are currently using before those areas are destroyed by uninformed coastal development. It is much easier to protect an area that is supporting a healthy population than to try to restore a damaged area and bolster a failing population. This project will provide an important piece to the puzzle of manatee conservation in Cuba and we are very excited to be a part of this work during such a dynamic time in the island’s history.