“Letters and Colors with Wings” Fosters Love for Biodiversity in Santiago de Cuba

“Letters, Colors with Wings”is the suggestive title of a children’s contest that promotes the protection of biodiversity in Santiago de Cuba, an initiative included in the Caribbean Birds Festival, to be held on May 22.

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According to Ines Fernandez Rodriguez, specialist with the National Company for Wildlife Protection (ENPFF is the acronym), the participants can draw by using crayons, colored pencils and watercolor. The drawings should reflect the endemic birds of Cuba they know or discover when reading or doing some research. Moreover, children with writing skills can send stories or poems.

“Letters, Colors with Wings” is only one of the many initiatives that have been launched in Santiago de Cuba within the framework of the Endemic Birds Festival, which usually takes a whole month, April 22 - May 22. This time round, the motto is “Restore Habitats, Take Care of Birds”.

Kenia Mestril, an environmental education specialist with ENPFF, says that the event aims at increasing people’s awareness of the importance of taking good care and protecting the endemic birds of the country.

The program of activities includes workshops, seminars, contests, bird watching sessions, nest searching, egg measuring and tree planting, in an effort to restore the habitats of birds.

“All of these activities are mainly carried out in educational centers that are nestled in protected and production areas of the enterprise, where environmental education programs are developed on a regular basis, but the entire province joins us during the festival”, Mestril pointed out.

Besides ENPFF, the Endemic Birds Festival is coordinated by the Biologic Sciences Faculty from Havana’s University, Santiago de Cuba’s Eastern Center of Ecosystems and Biodiversity and other CITMA entities.

The event joins the efforts to protect such Caribbean species as cartacuba, tomeguin del pinar, parrot, butterfly, sinsontillo, blue jay and hummingbird –the last one is described as the smallest bird on Earth.

This festival looks forward to increasing environmental education of children and teenagers by means of attractive activities, focused on field research. The event has been held in Santiago de Cuba since 2007, as well as in other regions of Cuba since 2003.

Cuba protects nearly 15 percent of its natural areas, which guarantees the preservation of ecosystems and, therefore, favors the presence of Caribbean birds. There are nearly 160 endemic species on the island.