• Submitted by: Luis Manuel Mazorra
• Science and Technology
• 04 / 02 / 2012

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More than 270 000 hectares will be afforested with spices vegetable production and conservation, which will help to extend the forest area by 2015 Cuba.
Today the island has 26.7 percent of its area covered by forests and the initiative will raise that figure to 29.3 over the next three years include the daily Granma.

The program, sponsored by the Forestry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, increase tree planting to meet the demand for wood and its derivatives, among others.

Protection forests will be created for the conservation of existing renewable resources such as water and soil, watersheds, coastlines and coastal areas, the article says.

For the Cuban researcher Peter Henry to reforest and create a forest breathing helps the planet, because through photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, which is essential for life.

Other benefits are the protection of soil against erosion, not only water but also wind, he explained.

In coastal reforestation does mitigate the effects of climate change, since these species are natural barriers to slow the rise in mean sea level, said Henry.