The constructive maintenance of the Coastal Lagoon Water Renovation System (REALCO), the only engineering work of its kind in Cuba, makes possible the continuous improvement of the environmental indicators in Laguna Larga, the largest natural aquarium in the northern cay of Ciego de Avila.
Janet Quiñones Galvez, territorial delegate of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA), highlighted the efforts of the workers of the Empresa Constructora de Obras del Turismo Cayo Coco, in charge of freeing the artificial channel that connects the reservoir with the ocean of sediments and ensuring the restoration of the infrastructure.
Speaking to the Cuban News Agency, he praised the performance of workers from the Environmental Engineering and Biodiversity Centre of Ciego de Avila, who undertook the thinning of the vegetation and removed invasive exotic plants that hindered the free flow of water in the 240 metres of the canal and the entrance to the lagoon.
It revitalised a work of interest to maintain the vitality of Laguna Larga and protect wildlife, mangrove health and the establishment of ichthyofauna, he explained.
Included in the State Plan to Confront Climate Change (Tarea Vida), this three-kilometre-long engineering work also allows the dissipation of wave energy to take place in an aquatic environment and in a gradual manner, avoiding an action-reaction impact that favours the erosive process in coastal areas.
It is a mechanism in harmony with nature, which regulates the inflow and outflow of water through a system of floodgates, thus helping to prevent flooding and creating favourable environmental conditions for the development of tourism in an area where hotels such as the Muthu Colonial, Tryp Cayo Coco and Mojito are located.
Created by experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, REALCO is a procedure that uses the energy of sea waves to move water into the lagoons and reduce the retention time of this liquid, so that the exchange and renewal offer guarantees for environmental health and the conservation of biodiversity.
This ensures appropriate conditions for sun and beach tourism, as well as ecotourism, in one of the most important destinations in Cuba and the Caribbean region.
With an investigation on the environmental impact of this engineering work, María del Carmen Olivera Isern, subdelegate of Environment in the province of Ciego de Ávila, corroborated the improvement of the quality of the water in this natural aquarium and the health of the ecosystem as a whole, after implementing this solution.
Recently, government representatives in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, corroborated the operation and feasibility of REALCO, with the aim of extending the experience to their country to promote the environmental health of coastal lagoons located in tourist areas.
The periodic connection of coastal lagoons with the ocean leads to important changes in the physical, chemical and biological dynamics of these reservoirs, which have become a refuge for species such as resident and migratory birds that find appropriate conditions for feeding and breeding.
They are also ecosystems of great importance for the quality of beaches, as they act as natural filters, eliminating pollutants before they reach the sea, which favours water clarity and prevents the proliferation of algae and bacteria that can affect these seaside resorts.
