Original subtitles

(soothing music)

When Christopher Columbus

discovered the wonders of Cuban wildlife,

he declared that this was the most beautiful land

he'd ever set eyes on.

(soothing music)

Five centuries later.

(speaks foreign language)

60 years of lack of means, isolation, and embargo

have led the Cuban people to adopt an ecological strategy

with little or no pollution from heavy industry,

without chemical agriculture,

and with a nonexistent industrial fishing fleet.

The result of this forced segregation

is a legacy which is as unexpected as it is exceptional.

Cuba has remained a unique natural paradise.

(dramatic music)

Dozens of species which have vanished

from neighboring countries continue to live here,

and the Cuban mangroves are amongst

the richest in the world.

On the flip side of this coin,

this lack of means has often prevented Cuban scientists

from carrying out in depth studies of their territory

that is the size of Switzerland.

Suddenly, once again history moves into action.

(speaks foreign language)

The isolation of Cuba will soon be a memory,

and it is anticipated that in the coming five years,

the average number of tourists will go

from three to seven million

in a country of barely 11 million souls.

Neither the Cubans nor the ecosystem of this island

are ready for this human avalanche.

Eduardo Abreu is one of about 30 scientists

from the Cuban Department of Ecology

who was suddenly caught up in a race against time.

They only have two or three years

in which to find essential reproduction zones,

inventory the endangered species,

and eradicate the invasive intruders.

(dramatic music)

A huge task which will allow Cuba

to absorb the avalanche of tourists

at the same time as conserve the unique characteristics

of this ecological wonderland.

(dramatic music) (birds squawking)

(pleasant music)

Cuba is so teeming with life that the first challenges

to be taken up are apparent to everyone.

Each year, after the first rains of April,

a phenomenon takes place in Cuba that is seen

nowhere else in the Atlantic.

Several million red crabs

leave the humidity of the mangroves in the forests

to go back to the sea in order to lay their eggs.

But to achieve this, they must cross

a dangerously busy road.

(horn blares)

(pleasant music)

Despite the limited number of cars

at the disposal of Cubans,

tens of thousands of crabs lose their lives

during this ordeal, leaving only the slippery carpet

of their crushed bodies to bear witness.

(speaks foreign language)

It's the same thing every year.

The road is covered with crabs,

and they're not even edible.

Sometimes you'll see six or seven cars pulled up

over on the side, because crabs have punctured their tires.

Between the crystalline lagoons

and the wild mangroves, over a distance of 40 kilometers

this migration crosses the only road

linking the principle tourist centers

of the island's south coast,

a problem which Eduardo urgently needs to resolve.

(speaks foreign language)

The southern region of Cuba,

the Zapata Swamps, are a growing tourist attraction,

meaning that national and international tourism

increases the region's population enormously.

(speaks foreign language)

For example, in the spring at the end of each week

we find ourselves with 25 to 30,000 people who

naturally, use transport to get here.

(speaks foreign language)

So we are faced with the massive destruction of crabs

which are crushed under the wheels of cars.

(speaks foreign language)

It's an element that needs to be studied quickly

in order to avoid, or at least minimalize

the terrible effects of this massacre

on the red crab population.

(speaks foreign language)

This large scale massacre,

in addition to its direct effect on the animal population,

upsets the process of natural selection.

It is no longer the strongest which survive,

but those who are lucky enough to dodge the traffic.

These exclusively land dwelling crabs

have a particularity which obliges them

to face this ever growing danger.

Each female has to leave her 85,000 eggs in the calm waters

of the Caribbean Sea, where the young crabs

spend the first stage of their development.

Paradoxically, if a female

falls into the water while laying, she drowns.

Two months later, the young crabs

which have been spared by the numerous predators

leave the aquatic life behind them,

and cross back over the road

to return to their forest dwelling.

If the 20,000 cars which daily await them

give them the chance.

Thus the young crabs return to the 6,000 square kilometers

of mangroves of the Zapata Swamp.

(birds chirping)

(pleasant music)

For the moment, this young hutia,

one of the last Cuban representatives

of a vast family of Caribbean rodents,

the largest of which was the size of a bear,

only has one enemy to look out for,

the Cuban crocodile.

(pleasant music)

(suspenseful music)

(water splashing)

Well aware of the agility of this predator,

these rodents are rarely caught napping.

(pleasant music)

But a new enemy freshly arrived from Florida

could upset the tranquility of their existence.

Eduardo and Gustavo Sosa in charge of the

Boca de Guama Crocodile Farm,

are checking to see if the newcomer is encroaching

upon the Cuban crocodile's space.

(speaks foreign language)

There are two very different

crocodile populations in Cuba,

the acutus, commonly known as the American crocodile,

and the rhombifer, which is the true Cuban crocodile.

(speaks foreign language)

The American crocs live just about everywhere,

but the only Cuban crocodiles living in the wild

are found within quite a small area in the Bay of Pigs.

La Cienaga de Zapata.

This means that if you analyze

the crocodile populations of the world,

the Cuban crocodile stands out of the species

which is the most rare, and consequently

it is in great danger.

Added to this, American and Cuban crocodiles

can interbreed and reproduce.

The Americans enter Cuban territory,

forcing us to tackle the problem of hybridization,

which is a real danger for the Cuban crocodile population.

(speaks foreign language)

There are only 4,000 Cuban crocodiles

still living in the wild.

This population would sink without trace

if it became crossed with the American population,

which is much more powerful,

and can measure up to six meters long

compared to two meters for the Cuban species.

(eerie music)

Inquisitive by nature, and not afraid of man,

the rhombifer willingly comes into the open

to watch any unusual goings on.

Let's go forward.

(suspenseful music)

Ah look at that.

Try to stop it from diving.

Have you got it?

Hold onto it.

Go around.

They now need to check if it's a rhombifer.

It's a rhombifer.

Gustavito has a secret trick.

When he exerts pressure on the crocodile's eyelid,

it instinctively calms down.

There, you see the scales sticking out

and the color of the eyes?

Yes.

It's definitely a rhombifer,

and at the end of the snout there are no perforations.

For a long time, it was believed

there was only one species,

but recent genetic testing highlighted

the singularity of the Cuban crocodile.

Look at the pattern of the scales.

You have two, two, four, and two.

It's definitely a rhombifer.

We'll take a scale sample for genetics.

Do you have the sample bottle?

The only way to be sure that the animal

isn't a hybrid is to carry out a genetic concordance test.

(speaks foreign language)

Mind your hand.

I'm going to release it.

Let go if you like.

I'm holding it tightly.

The sample is a way of cataloging it,

so we'll give it an identification number.

What number are you up to for rhombifers?

This one will be number 231.

This way we'll have more information if we catch it again.

In order to safeguard

the rarest crocodile species in the world,

tourism will be capped within its vital habitat.

(eerie music)

(engine rumbling)

The crocodile is an emblematic Cuban animal.

The very island itself is crocodile shaped.

This species is certainly one of the major representatives

of the Cienaga's endemic wildlife.

Eduardo meets up with Lazaro Vinola

who is writing a thesis

on the history of the Cuban crocodile.

(engine rumbling)

Lazaro is paying a visit to one of the

excavation sites he's working on.

Eduardo considers it important to find out

precisely when the Cuban crocodile's feeding habits changed.

Oh, it's quite clearly

the tooth of a crocodile, and a large one.

Yes.

And what species

do you think this tooth belongs to?

Based on just one tooth,

it's very difficult to tell the species.

But we found bones as well.

Parts of the skull from which it's possible

to determine that it's a rhombifer.

Quite an imposing animal.

Yes.

It needed a lot of meat.

An animal weighing?

More than 200 kilograms. Wow.

Cuban crocodiles of the time

could grow to be much bigger than they are today.

How come?

Partly because their prey was bigger.

(ominous music)

(speaks foreign language)

Over the time you've worked here,

have you managed to establish which period

these archeological finds, these bones date from?

(speaks foreign language)

The first relics were found in this cave

at the end of the '90s by a researcher

working in collaboration with the American Museum.

By using the carbon-14 technique,

he managed to determine that these remains

are all about 5,300 years old.

Right, so they're extremely old.

That places them in the Holocene Era.

Yes, and during that era

there was no human presence in Cuba.

The present day crocodile population

is only a fraction of what it was in the past.

The problem of invasive species like crocodiles

is extremely worrying, and urgently needs to be resolved.

But while some of these invasions came about naturally,

one was the result of serious human error.

For the last two decades, the fish in Cuban rivers

have widely fallen foul to an insatiable predator.

A pest which is ousting from some of Cuba's endemic species

and pushing them towards extinction.

This menace has a name, the Chinese catfish.

But what is this fish from the other side of the world

doing in Cuban rivers?

This is a major subject of conversation

between different generations of Cuban biologists.

Those of the revolution like Eduardo,

and those of the generation of changes

like Yanuel, Eduardo's son who only has

a few years to protect Cuban wildlife as best he can.

(motor puttering)

(speaks foreign language)

You know Dad, when I go diving in the rivers

I've noticed there was still huge numbers of catfish.

How long have they been in Cuba?

Because the quantity of them

in the rivers today is unbelievable.

(speaks foreign language)

In the early 2000s,

the catfish was introduced

as a way of resolving the population's food question.

(speaks foreign language)

At the beginning, the idea was to fill the locks

with this species

in order to stop it escaping into the wild.

(speaks foreign language)

But they hadn't counted on cyclones.

And that was when Michelle struck.

A very powerful cyclone.

The locks overflowed and all the larvae escaped

into the rivers of the Cienaga de Zapata.

To deal with Chinese catfish,

Cubans use nets to block the rivers

and funnel all the fish

into pockets where they become trapped.

This technique allows the fish

to be kept alive for several days.

Each time Ignacio goes to the traps,

he releases the Cuban species and just keeps the catfish.

This way, the local fish can regain the upper hand.

I remember that in the past,

the number of catfish was incredible.

When I dived in places like this

they would come bumping into my mask.

Is it still the same today?

(speaks foreign language)

No, things have changed.

For example, to give you some figures.

At the time, they were catching more or less

18 tons of them a year.

I'm talking about the beginning of the 2000s.

But now we catch about two tons.

Would you say fishermen

are strongly encouraged to catch catfish?

Is turnover and pay reasonable?

(speaks foreign language)

These days, the government pays us very well

for catching catfish.

(speaks foreign language)

It's fixed at around 2,500 pesos the ton,

and it's paid in convertible currency.

Yes, there's a real incentive.

(speaks foreign language)

(birds screeching)

Nobody foresaw the extent

of the catfish invasion and its destructive effect.

To deal with it, an even more ferocious predator

needed to be found, man.

Because time is precious, Eduardo and Yanuel

have already taken up a fresh challenge.

Cuban biodiversity seems to be cracking in many places.

Is there not one problem free place on this island?

(dramatic music)

There exists in Cuba a secret, mysterious world.

A domain which few Cubans know of,

and which only the island's animals frequent.

(suspenseful music)

Spread over 1/5 of the island's subsurface,

a labyrinth of caves, funnels, rivers, and underground lakes

captures water coming from the mountains and plains,

and carries it without further contact with the exterior

towards the coastal mangroves.

(tinkly music)

A world which only reveals itself once every thousand years,

when the roof of a cave collapses,

opening a window to this unknown domain

and its enigmatic inhabitants.

(tinkly music)

(birds chirping)

Studying these rocky faults, known as cenotes,

is far from being a simple business for Cuban biologists.

Although some are easily accessible,

most of them are hidden within hundreds of square kilometers

of frequently impenetrable mangrove.

(dramatic music)

Eduardo, Yanuel, and teams from the park

need to check one by one if the cenotes are free of invasion

by American crocodiles, catfish, or the slightest pollution,

because within this closed system,

one invaded zone would contaminate

the entire underground world.

(speaks foreign language)

Right, get into the water carefully

and keep your wits about you

while you're exploring the cenote.

Be careful, crocodiles can be dangerous

and appear out of nowhere to attack you.

(water splashing)

(soothing music)

This sunken forest slowly became petrified.

In the first 10 meters, the clear, fresh water

arriving from the mountains

favors the proliferation of algae

which give everything a ghostly appearance.

(soothing music)

As for the bottom of the cenote,

it is filled with salt sea water,

fluctuating to the rhythm of the tides.

(soothing music)

Where the two layers of different water meet,

they play together and twist

and intertwine without ever uniting.

(soothing music)

Overcome with curiosity, a crocodile

leaves its hiding place

to study this strange visitor more closely.

(soothing music)

Another inhabitant, one of the strangest,

also comes to take a look.

A manjuari or Cuban gar.

It's a very rare animal, a genuine living fossil

which has existed in its present form for 100 million years.

It's probably the evolutionary link

between fish and mammals.

(soothing music)

Did you see any crocodiles?

(speaks foreign language)

Just now as I was coming up.

There's a little cave, and that's where I saw one, huge.

A good two meters.

I saw her twice, unless there were two of them.

Then on the way back, I saw a fish about so big.

Very slender with a muzzle

a bit like a crocodiles and lots of teeth.

(speaks foreign language)

That's a manjuari,

and indeed its name derived from its teeth.

In the original Cuban language, (speaks foreign language),

manju means many, and ari means teeth.

And the major part of this fish population

has links with the cenotes,

where the living conditions are favorable

and they have an easy access to the mangrove swamps.

So it seems that the Cuban gar,

which was thought to be dying out

because of the catfish invasion,

has found a safe haven in the closed system

of caves and cenotes of Cuba.

(speaks foreign language)

Continuing his research, Yanuel meets Andre Hurtado,

who to counter the predicted disappearance

of these prehistoric Cuban fish,

has set up a highly efficient emergency plan.

(speaks foreign language)

We'll put river water in this container.

To avoid any thermic or chemical shock,

the fish are firstly acclimatized in a cool box.

Andre has dedicated the last 10 years of his scientific life

to raising these rare fish.

For the first time in decades, baby Cuban gar

return to the rivers which catfish stole from their parents.

(speaks foreign language)

In order to save endangered species,

we've set up a reproduction center

for different fish which are endemic to Cuba,

like the manjuari, in order to produce larvae.

Seeds for the future, as you might say.

We raise them, and when the conditions are favorable,

we release them back into the wild

to bring their population back up to its original level.

That's the idea, and that's why we're here today

with park employees to attempt some reintroduction.

We believe that this is the right place and time.

Andre, why was this particular place

chosen for releasing baby manjuari?

Take a look.

The water is calm, there are

plenty of places to take refuge,

and there are a lot of little fish to prey upon.

In our research, we've observed that habitats

similar to this are where they are

the most numerous and healthy.

For the biologists from the parks,

careful management of these largely uninhabited

mangroves and rivers could provide the island

with a way of balancing tourism, economic development,

and preservation of its natural heritage.

(birds chirping)

(pleasant music)

Although safeguarding the natural environment

is the priority for Eduardo and the natural park employees,

another sizable problem needs to be resolved.

It is in direct opposition

to the dream of an ecological paradise,

and needs to be controlled quickly.

This is a country where the average monthly salary

is 20 euros, 50 for a surgeon.

(horns honking) (pleasant music)

But certain difficult moments of the revolution,

like the so-called special period following the withdrawal

of Russian aid to Cuba in 1990,

poaching was for some the only means of survival.

The growing demand of tourists for exotic souvenirs

arouses the greed of those looking for easy money.

(pleasant music)

And tourists arrive in ever increasing numbers.

(pleasant music)

With a market of 100,000 million euros per year,

animal trafficking represents the third largest source

of illegal income in the world, after drugs and armaments

and a major battle for the biologists of the natural parks.

(soothing music)

We are in the west of Cuba,

in the Pinar del Rio region,

the territory of a symbolic animal of the island.

The Cuban parakeet is very rare,

and appears on the Washington Convention

International Trade in Endangered Species list.

(pleasant music)

Eduardo has come to meet Armando,

who runs a program dedicated to saving

and reintroducing these unique birds.

(speaks foreign language)

Hi how are you?

Is the reproduction going well?

(speaks foreign language)

What's your goal with this breeding program?

We're part of a large network

involved in protecting species.

But our principle concern here is the Cuban parakeet.

Why, what is the problem

with this species today?

The problem is that a lot of people

want to keep them at home.

They're captured to serve as pets.

There are already problems specific to this island.

We're in the path of cyclones and tropical storms,

which destroy the environment

and in particular palm trees where the birds nest.

Now we have to add the even bigger problem of poaching.

With so many people wanting parakeets as pets,

the market price has gone up.

How much do they cost now?

That depends where you buy them.

Here in Agua-Grande, where they are captured,

they sell for about 20 to $25,

but when you go further afield to Varadero,

you're talking about 40 to $50.

In Havana one bird can sell for $80.

$80? Yes, $80 in Havana.

At that price it's not surprising

that the species draws attention.

(birds chirping)

And is the problem just at a national level?

No there are poachers who-- Who manage to get them

across the borders? Yes.

They get round the controls

and take animals out of the country.

We learned recently that in Mexico for example,

Cuban parakeets have been sold for 1,000 euros each.

Wow.

At that price, it's very worrying

for the future of these birds.

A bird sold in town for 80 euros

represents three or four months salary.

Even on a small scale, this trafficking

is an easy source of income.

For the moment, the 20 or so couples released each year

are enough to keep the Cuban parakeet population stable,

but an increase in tourism will inevitably result

in an increase in demand.

And bird trafficking is not the only such business.

(speaks foreign language)

Upon returning to his inspection of the Zapata Swamp,

Eduardo is confronted with a case on a worrying scale.

He's acquired access to an extraordinary document,

seized by Cuban customs officers.

(speaks foreign language)

Faced with the size of the threat,

Eduardo has urgently called in Roberto Taragona,

known as Toby, a pioneer in Cuban ecology.

I'm sure they're near to Manadero.

Me too, and you Gustavito?

Take a look at the size

of those crocodile heads.

Yes, and this type of ecosystem

is typical of the zone.

(speaks foreign language)

(speaks foreign language)

Listen carefully to what they're saying.

They traveled three days and hunted for 13 days

to capture those animals.

That means they're increasing their activities

and going deeper into the mangrove each time.

How many animals do you think there are in each boat?

(speaks foreign language)

To be certain,

we'd have to watch the whole video.

But there are between 50 and 60 animals.

The boats are so weighed down

that the poachers can't even get on board themselves,

and are having to push them.

(speaks foreign language)

Comparing the number of crocodiles by boat

with the price of the meat,

there's about $3,000 worth there.

That's quite a sum.

3,000, $3,000?

Now it's no longer a question of survival.

You're right, it's to make a fortune.

This video proves that there's a demand.

This is only going on because there's a market.

But what market, Gustavito?

Eduardo, tourism of course, tourism.

Of course, increasing tourism.

Tourism is the root cause of this.

Of course.

It increases the demand for the meat of crocodiles

and other wild species.

(speaks foreign language)

The only alternative we have is to increase production

of crocodile meat in the rearing farms

in order to satisfy demand.

(speaks foreign language)

Nobody foresaw that demand would be so high.

(gentle music)

For Gustavito, this video proves two things.

On the one hand, the program for reintroducing rhombifers

to the wild needs to be boosted, without delay,

but he also needs to increase the number

of American crocodiles being raised.

At the moment, the crocodile farm

produces one ton of meat each year,

destined exclusively for the tourist industry.

To satisfy the urgent demand from hotels and restaurants

and thereby discourage poaching,

production needs to be increased

to two tons, starting this year.

(pleasant music)

Let's hope that within four or five years,

the rhombifer crocodiles will repopulate

most of the zones which they occupied originally,

and that the increase in population

will remove them from the list of endangered species.

To achieve this, poaching needs to become clearly illegal.

Today it is not condemned under Cuban law.

(birds chirping)

In numerous regions of the island,

a major part of conservation work

consists of taking an inventory in the field.

Next it is necessary to evaluate the risk of pollution,

or destruction of the natural habitat

which pressure from tourism or uncontrolled

industrial development could provoke.

(birds chirping)

Today, Eduardo is taking a general inventory

of the forests in the west of the country.

Numerous animals which only now exist in Cuba

answer the roll call.

The Cuban parakeet of course.

But also the dwarf frog, measuring only a centimeter long.

And the polymita, known as the painted snail

because of its various colors.

(soothing music)

The turkey vulture.

The blue-headed quail-dove.

The Cuban trogon, or tocororo,

which is the country's mascot.

(soothing music)

And the Cuban false chameleon,

which is the only lizard capable of

changing its color and appearance.

(pleasant music)

(birds calling)

As for the green woodpecker,

it is one of the forest's biggest builders.

(pleasant music)

To please the female, the male tirelessly builds new nests,

transforming the palm tree trunks into blocks of apartments

which are quickly snapped up by eager new residents.

(pleasant music)

But this noisy neighbor ruffles the feathers

of certain night working tenants,

like the Cuban pygmy owl, which at 10 centimeters tall

is the smallest owl in the world.

(pleasant music)

(speaks foreign language)

In this wooded area,

the palm trees are the smallest.

(speaks foreign language)

Sometimes the tops are cut by lightning,

leaving just the trunks.

(speaks foreign language)

During their reproduction cycle,

the woodpeckers hollow out

numerous cavities at different levels.

(speaks foreign language)

And as soon as they abandon them,

other birds endemic to the island, like the pygmy owls,

parakeets, and parrots, take their place.

(speaks foreign language)

But unfortunately, these palm tree trunks

are cut down by poachers during the hatching period

so that they can collect babies and eggs to sell them.

(speaks foreign language)

This results in less palm trees,

and therefore less chance for the woodpeckers

to build shelters which means much fewer nests

for other species.

(speaks foreign language)

It's a real problem for us because we're beginning to see

competition between the species,

which is highly detrimental.

(speaks foreign language)

At this very moment, we're carrying out studies

to determine which bird species

live at which level of palm tree trunk,

so that we can build artificial nests in other trees

at the right height for each type of bird.

(speaks foreign language)

This way, we can make up

for the numerous missing palm trees.

(pleasant music)

Clearly, being one of the rare small sized

wild mammals on an island isn't inducive

to a restful life for the hutias.

(pleasant music)

Silent and quick, a rainbow boa has already noticed it.

(pleasant music)

(ominous music)

(hutia squeaking)

But once again, the agile little rodent

gets away with just a fright.

The Cuban boa is listed as an endangered species

because its reputation as a hen thief

turned villagers against it,

and it has been relentlessly hunted.

(pleasant music)

Eduardo believes that once this forest

has been accorded the status of a wildlife sanctuary,

the boa could have a long term future here.

He just needs to catch a few dozen of them

to estimate the density, gender, and age of the population.

(suspenseful music)

Easier said than done.

(boa hissing)

(suspenseful music)

(speaks foreign language)

One meter 70.

Faced with the richness of the wildlife

which he encounters during each visit,

Eduardo is in no doubt.

The forest of Vinales needs to be recognized

as a priority conservation area.

(birds chirping)

The biologists only have one or two years in front of them

because the town is developing rapidly.

(dog barking)

Fortunately, the locals are already taking an interest

in their natural heritage.

(speaks foreign language)

Ay Barnaby, perhaps we'll be lucky enough

to see a few zunzuncitos.

There's always something to see.

Just coming to the house attracts them.

Oh yes, they're always here for me.

It's as simple as that.

Of course, we live here together.

Having scoured the woods for them in vain,

I come here and can watch them with you.

Look at them, they're waiting for us.

It's true, they seem to be here for us.

(pleasant music)

Almost invisible in the forest,

the bee hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world.

Hardly six centimeters long,

and weighing only two or three grams.

Cubans call is zunzun because of the sound of its wings

which beat 80 times per second.

It is one of the most vulnerable creatures

in the Cuban forest.

(wings thrumming) (hummingbird chirping)

(pleasant music)

(speaks foreign language)

In 30 years of study,

I have never seen zunzun and zunzuncitos

in one and the same place.

You've really created a very special space for them here.

(speaks foreign language)

Yes I think you're right.

Firstly it's a question of giving them

a lot of love and care.

Then they need to be given food,

and protection from animals which can harm them.

I also protect them from humans

who come with cages and arrows.

I've made that impossible around here.

(pleasant music)

(speaks foreign language)

You know, what's going on here is unique,

and it's a wonderful achievement.

It just goes to show how even an individual action

can make a difference.

What's more, thanks to this example,

people from the region are more careful

about nature around them.

Tourism is increasing, and this will bring

economic benefits to the local population.

(speaks foreign language)

This is how we create the means

to defend this area, which we love,

and which is important to us.

Yes you're right.

(birds chirping)

The good state of health of the Cuban

lagoons and mangroves is vital for the future

of all the wetlands of Central America.

Why?

Cuba is the principle and virtually

the last migration corridor

for birds between North America and South America.

Without Cuba, there would be no possible stop off

for these long haul travelers.

An ecological catastrophe.

(birds squawking)

Eduardo meets the ornithologist Lordes Mueca

for an inventory taking expedition in the Zapata Swamp

in the south of the country.

(speaks foreign language)

Look it's nice and open here for counting.

It's a classic feeding ground,

wouldn't you say?

Look, there's a heron.

And those are white ibis.

There are some young feeding with the adults.

Oh yes.

The young are not the same color.

There's some egrets too.

Roseate spoonbills.

Spoonbills, yes.

(birds calling)

(speaks foreign language)

The Caribbean and Atlantic

migration corridors you mentioned.

How many bird species do they account for

out of all the Cuban birds?

(speaks foreign language)

Here there are about 178 bird species

migrating from the north, and 14 coming from the south,

which means to say that 77% of Cuban birds

out of the 379 existing species, are migratory.

(speaks foreign language)

And believe it or not, you only see them twice a year.

Now, September and October when they head south,

and February and March when they go back to North America.

(birds calling)

(speaks foreign language)

All the Central American zones are interconnected.

Which means that all that we undertake here,

in terms of species conservation

has consequences thousands of kilometers away

in other wetlands such as Yucatan, Northern Colombia,

as well as the Bahamas.

(speaks foreign language)

This interconnection places an obligation on our government

to ensure that the level of conservation

achieved on the island is maintained.

(speaks foreign language)

(birds calling)

(speaks foreign language)

Yes, but we need to take into account

that the development of tourism

could be a disturbing factor.

(speaks foreign language)

Absolutely.

We're going to need to be careful

about the number of tourists who can enter each zone.

Those of you who live here need to pass the message on.

If tourists come here, it's not just because the name

Cienaga de Zapata is known.

It's because it's a name associated

with a totally preserved site

where there are vast numbers of wild birds and species.

This is a unique migration corridor.

And this will only remain the case

if birds can get rest here.

The population needs to understand

that this natural heritage

is the greatest wealth they possess.

And that it attracts people and money here.

So the inhabitants need to be involved in this conservation.

They need to be a part of the solution,

not the problem.

The 5,000 kilometers of Cuban coastline

are home to half of the mangroves of Central America.

Animals such as Florida's white pelicans

which were not seen in Cuba 10 years ago

now come and settle here, because in Florida

as in all the other Caribbean countries

the increasing construction of hotels and marinas

is resulting in the disappearance of wildlife.

(soothing music)

Will Cuba write the final chapter of this catastrophe

by destroying the vital migration corridors?

Of course the answer is no.

Cubans are much too independent,

too proud of their particularity

and their natural heritage for that.

(dramatic music)

(horn blares)

For 10 years or so, many Cubans have been traveling abroad

for work or to visit relatives.

This cultivated people is well aware

of the detrimental effects which could come about

through the sudden lifting of the embargo,

and an influx of easy money.

Five centuries after Christopher Columbus,

the arrival of the first giant ship goes almost unnoticed.

By a strange twist of fate, the arrival of the cruise ships

coincides with a staggering discovery.

The only venomous mammal species in the world,

thought to have completely disappeared,

the aguta, has suddenly made a reappearance

in the island's undergrowth.

Will it become the mascot of tomorrow's Cuba?

The symbol of the great Central American wonderland?

Only time will tell.

(singing in foreign language)