Mexico City, Mexico — Mexico’s National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) has signed a collaboration agreement with Cuba. The agreement reactivates the twinning relationship between the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve (RBSM) in Mexico and the Sierra del Rosario Biosphere Reserve (RBSR) in Cuba.
The signing took place at the Soroa Orchid Botanical Garden in Cuba, home to a unique collection of orchids and native flora. The document was signed by Lelieth Feyobe Sandoval, Director of the Biosfera Sierra de Manantlán (RBSM) and Carlos Alberto Gallegos Solórzano, head of the RBSM.
The first agreement was signed three decades ago, and this new phase, symbolizes the continuity of a shared history and the renewal of a joint commitment to biodiversity, communities and ancestral and scientific knowledge.
The participating institutions, together with their strategic allies, have reaffirmed their willingness to cooperate in key areas such as:
Agrobiodiversity and peasant production systems
Biological corridors and connectivity between natural spaces
Ecosystem services
Youth Network of Biosphere Reserves
Management and governance mechanisms
Risk, hazard, and socio-environmental vulnerability studies for adaptation to global climate change
These topics will be addressed from a comprehensive, cross-cutting perspective, sensitive to the social and ecological realities of both territories. It will include incorporating approaches to research, monitoring, community development, technical training, professional and graduate education, gender perspective, climate change, environmental and social safeguards, environmental education and tourism.
The panel “Ecological Research in Both Protected Natural Areas (PNA)” was also held, where the importance of mountain areas for the resilience of coastal watersheds was discussed.
The Sierra del Rosario Ecological Station was the center of the technical meetings, where institutional presentation sessions, workshops, collaborative mapping and cooperation agreements were held. This space, a symbol of science at the service of conservation, allowed for the establishment of a shared vision of the challenges and opportunities shared by both reserves.
This agreement not only represents an agreement between institutions, but also the rebirth of a biocultural family, where the mountains of Cuba and Mexico recognize each other as sisters, united by a love for the preservation of natural resources, the wisdom of their peoples, and the desire to jointly build territories of conservation, science and hope.
At the international level, with the signing of this agreement, CONANP reaffirms its interest in collaborating with other institutions and exchanging experiences, points of view, and concrete actions to promote environmental conservation in Mexico and around the world.
