The Guantanamo Bay area has the potential of becoming a national tourist attraction.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Barack Obama will make a historic visit to Cuba. And in preparation for the event, the authorities are considering a serious change in the landscape. Guantanamo Bay will become Guantanamo Park, or, at least, that is what the latest proposal published in Science journal suggests.
Due to the recent positive change in the relations between the United States and Cuba, scientists are already working on various ways to revolutionize the country’s touristic attractions. Guantanamo Bay will become Guantanamo Park in an effort to attract more US tourists.
Joe Roman, a co-author of the study published in Science journal, believes that coastal systems will be placed under a lot more pressure now that the US embassy is opened again. The Vermont University conservation biologist believes that the Bay area presents a lot of potential in the tourism department.
There is a strict conservational law in Cuba, known as “Law 81” which was adopted by Fidel Castro at the 19992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit. The law blames consumer societies for the environment destruction, thus limiting the possibilities of transforming any areas in a tourist attraction.
But what Roman is proposing is nothing more than a sustainability plan. According to the conservation biologist, if Guantanamo Bay will become Guantanamo Park, both the wildlife and the people will benefit from the change. Tourism will boost Cuba’s economy, and they will be able to spend more on conservation efforts.
Furthermore, Roman points out the fact that there are many great scientific minds in the country, but they lack resources. If his proposal is taken into consideration, the local scientists will be provided with necessary equipment and help from other members of the scientific community.
Roman is hopeful that such an endeavor will underline the benefits of a collaboration and that it will help the Cuban scientist and authorities realize the amount of good that could come from such a project. His endgame is to create the basis for a permanent collaboration.
Moreover, the conservation biologist hopes that the Oceanographic Institution of Woods Hole could be replicated into a Caribbean Woods Hole. But Hauke Kite-Powell, a scientist at WHOI believes Roman is way too optimistic, and such an endeavor will require a lot of time, work, and resources.
Kite-Powell considers the idea of another institute as being futile because WHOI is already engaged in research at a global level. But there is potential in a new facility when it comes to the pristine tropical ecosystems and coral reefs that Cuba is harboring.
For the moment, the idea that Guantanamo Bay will become Guantanamo Park remains just a scientific proposition published in a specialized journal. But it is good to see that President Obama’s visit stirs up the imagination of scientists worldwide.
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