PARQUE NACIONAL DESEMBARCO DEL GRANMA

Description. A national park in southeast Cuba, spectacular for its limestone terraces descending down to and below the sea, famous as the cradle of the Cuban revolution, and for its archaeological sites. Extent 32576 ha (26180 ha terrestrial, 6396 ha marine). Established in 1985. Administered by the Empresa Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna, Cuba.

Biodiversity. Numbers of species recorded in the management plan: Animalia, 196; Bacteria, 0; Chromista, 0; Fungi, 0; Plantae, 612; Protozoa, 0. Numbers of endangered species: Animalia, not known; Bacteria, not known; Chromista, not known; Fungi, not known; Plantae, not known; Protozoa, not known. Lists of animals and plants of the national park are included in the management plan.

Problems. Illicit hunting and felling. Limit of material resources and technical support for carrying out study of the area. Low cultural, technical and scientific levels in the surrounding population. Absence of meteorological stations. Lack of communications equipment. Insufficient land and marine transport. Poor grazing policies, leading to introduction of undesirable species. Lack of equipment for development of rock-climbing and diving tourism. Absence of equipment and informatics skills for technological development in the park. Insufficient and inadequate infrastructure within the park.

Project work. A 128 page management plan was produced with support from the Darwin Initiative project Biodiversity Conservation in Cuba.