#94 The Wild Cuban Beach and Dying Mangroves 鲜为人知的加勒比海滩 & 濒危的红树林

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What's up fellow Steemians! It's sunny today, and I'm in a beach mood, so vamos a la playa(let's go to the beach)! :) Come follow me to Cayo Jutías - a mangrove-covered key situated in western Cuba’s Pinar del Río province. I was staying in a casa particular (a local's house) in the picturesque town of Viñales, which is best known for its dramatic limestone hills, caves, and tobacco fields. I should seriously do a (dozen) post(s) about this amazing valley too!

In the morning I walked to the town center and found a bus leaving for Cayo Jutías. What I read about this place in Lonely Planet came to mind, so I hopped on the bus on a whim. Yeah, without even swimming suits, sunscreen or snorkeling gears. So hello Caribbean sun and sands! I'm coming, with only my sunglasses and camera... =)

今天阳光灿烂，不禁想起加勒比的无敌海滩。现在就请大家跟我来古巴一处鲜为人知的海滩吹吹海风散散心，看看濒危的红树林。这处Jutías珊瑚沙滩位于古巴西部海岸，Jutías是当地一种树鼠。

我当时住在Viñales这个以石灰岩山、岩洞和烟草种植（听过帅气的古巴雪茄吧？）闻名的迷人小镇。那天早上，从当地民宿信步走到镇中心，突然看到一辆中巴就要发车前往Jutías沙滩。想到我在旅游指南《孤独星球》上看到过这个不知名的小地方，想必是野趣横生，就不假思索地跳上了车。到了车上才想起来，惨了，连个防晒霜都没带，更别提泳衣、潜水镜之类的了。好吧，只能硬着头皮拥抱加勒比毒辣辣的阳光，又是难逃一天被晒焦的命运......

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After about one hour, I reached the long blanket of white shiny sand. This wild, remote and tranquil beach is attached to the mainland by a short causeway. A "cayo" means a "key" in English - a sandy, low-lying island formed on coral soil, which is a common landscape throughout the Caribbean islands. Jutías is named for the indigenous tree rats in this region.

大约一小时后，中巴到达一片密林边。下车走了一截，穿过茂盛的从林后，突然间，白得晃眼的一长条沙带伴着无边的碧海蓝天，就这么在眼前伸展开来。

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Here I only found a small hut selling drinks, a family playing on a boat and a couple of other people sunbathing or swimming. You can rent a sun chair or sea canoe for a low price, and spend a relaxing afternoon at this gorgeous utopia.

There was no overnight accommodation here, which might be a good thing for keeping it serene and unspoiled. I heard the sands here turn pink at sunset, but I couldn't test or photograph it as I had to go back to town with the last bus.

Some people call this place the most discovered "undiscovered" beach in Cuba. There's another pretty beach to the east in this province called Cayo Levisa, which boasts some choices of overnight stay, but it's also less tranquil.

这片荒凉的野地只有一个卖饮料的草棚，周围除了一家人在海里戏水，远处有两三个人在晒太阳、游泳，别无他人。你可以在这儿很便宜地租张沙滩椅或独木舟，尽享这世外桃源的宁静。

此地也没有旅馆酒店之类的住宿，所以除非你睡在车里或露营(可能并不允许)，当晚是不方便赖在这儿的。据说这里的沙子在夕阳的光线下会变成粉色，可惜我要赶着下午最后一班车回镇上，也无从验证这一奇景了。

有人把这里称作古巴鲜为人知的海滩中最为人所知的一处，毕竟上了旅游指南书了嘛，也就很容易传开了。这个省区靠东边还有一处风景绝美的沙滩Levisa，有夜宿设施，所以也少了份幽静。

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I walked around to explore each corner and dipped into the warm sea afterwards. I just didn't see anyone around, so the picture of me above was taken by hanging the camera on a tree behind - that's why it's such a strange angle, but I'm happy that I was still in the frame. ;)

The wind was blowing hard. Lush green bushes were growing wild along the sandy beach, and dead mangroves were scattered all over the place. These light logs and branches looked unique against the turquoise water and blue sky. Though it's a pretty fascinating view, it's sad to see these mangroves dying of thirst.

我忙不迭地四处撒欢起来，然后去温暖的海水里泡了会，只可惜风浪太大，不太适合游泳。周围方圆几里几乎没有人的踪影，我只能拍拍沙滩上的死螃蟹、茅草棚里的小贝壳，还有各种疯长的野草和干枯的红树林。因为实在难寻路人帮忙拍照，我就把相机挂在一棵树上，定时拍下了上面这张照片。虽然角度诡异，但好歹我还在镜头里边，已经很满足了;)。

下面照片里枯死的红树林在这里随处可见，在蔚蓝天空和碧绿海水的衬托下有着一种独特的美感，可是，这却不是什么好的现象，而是大自然给人类敲响的警钟。

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The Essential Roles of Mangroves

Mangroves make up 20% of the forests in Cuba and cover 4.8% of its territory. They play a vital role in the tropical areas of the Americas. In Cuba, four species of mangroves – white, red, black, and button have been utilized to produce charcoal, railroad ties and tannin for curing leather.

Mangroves also serve a crucial role in the environment and biodiversity: they provide breeding grounds for marine life, prevent flooding and saltwater intrusion into fresh water and farmland, and they can curb erosion of shorelines.

But sadly, the mangroves in Cuba have been deteriorating fast. The dead logs and branches you see in my photos here are a common sight in many coast areas in the country. So what caused this scene?

红树林的重要作用

红树林占到古巴森林总面积的20%，覆盖全岛4.8%的领土。在整个美洲的热带地区，红树林的作用都至关重要。在古巴，有四种红树林木被用来制造木炭、铁路轨枕、固化皮革用的丹宁酸等。

红树林在保护环境和生物多样性方面也扮演着重要角色：它们为鱼类等海洋生物提供繁殖的温床，可以防洪，阻滞盐水入侵农田和淡水资源，还能抑制海岸线受侵蚀。

但很可惜的是，古巴以及世界各地（包括中国）的红树林都在快速消亡。又是什么导致了这一现象呢？

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Why They Are Deteriorating

Natural disasters like droughts and hurricanes are getting worse and worse due to climate change. To fight these disasters, the Cuban government had a policy in the 1960s to store up fresh water. As a result, most rivers in Cuba have been dammed and almost 1000 reservoirs have been built.

Because the dams cut the natural circulation of the fresh water, the mangroves can't get as much water as they used to. So as a vegetation which requires a constant flow of fresh and saltwater, mangroves in Cuba have been weakening. Thus another natural disaster is actually happening.

Besides the lack of fresh water, deforestation, soil sealing, industrial pollution, shrimp farming, and the construction of dikes and channels, also contribute to threatening the 11 species of mangroves in this region. Not only in Cuba, over half the world's mangrove forests have been destroyed over the last 30 - 40 years. And different regions of the world have different causes for mangroves' deterioration.

红树林消亡的原因

由于全球气候变化，干旱、飓风等自然灾害越来越严重。为了抵御这些灾害，古巴政府于上世纪60年代出台一项全面存储淡水资源的政策。结果就是，古巴的绝大多数河流都筑起水坝，全国各地先后建起大大小小1000多座水库。

因为这些水坝切断了淡水的自然循环，导致红树林可以吸取的淡水急剧减少。而持续不断的淡水和盐水供应对红树林的生长必不可少，所以它们开始逐渐消亡。所以政府为了抵御自然灾害作出的行动，反而又造成了另一项自然灾害。

除了淡水的缺乏，过度砍伐、土壤板结、工业污染、虾类养殖、堤坝水渠的修筑等，也对这一地区的11种红树林造成了威胁。不仅是在古巴，过去三四十年间，全球超过一半的红树林都遭到毁坏，各地区的原因也有所不同。

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What Can Be Done

So what can be done to help preserve the mangrove forests? Now in Cuba, there are SOS Mangroves programs led by NGOs and their local partners as well as education authorities. Part of the mangroves in the area have been protected in the Wildlife Refuge Area. Students have been educated about the ecological system while cleaning up and monitoring the coast. While there are still large parts being destroyed or deteriorated.

It's important to educate locals and raise public awareness of the importance of protecting mangrove forests. Government and other organizations in some countries have done campaign and support efforts to these activities. There are also regulatory enforcement like heavy fines for cutting down mangroves. Planting more mangroves at suitable places should be encouraged. Locals living in the vicinity of mangrove forests can be trained to take up alternative jobs rather than extracting the resources of the mangroves.

What else do you think could be done to protect these mangrove forests? Feel free to share your other thoughts too! Until next time. =)

怎么保育红树林

那么问题来了，应该做些什么来防止红树林进一步消亡呢？现在在古巴，已经有一些非政府组织和各地的合作机构共同成立了SOS红树林救援项目。部分红树林也在当地野生生物保护区里得到了保育。教育部门指导学生们监测海岸生态、清理垃圾，同时对他们进行生态系统知识的宣传和教导。然而由于相关法律法规不完善，仍有部分红树林被损毁或正在消亡。

传授当地居民相关红树林生态的知识和其他挣钱养家技能，提高公众的环保意识非常必要，督促他们减少对红树林的依赖，转而另谋生路。有些国家已经广泛开展活动，进行这方面的宣传教育。会对胡乱砍伐红树林进行高额罚款，同时鼓励大家在合适的地方多种植新树。

中国的红树林保护区主要分布在浙江、福建、两广、海南这些气候温暖的沿海区域。这里推荐一个很棒的保育红树林的网站 -- 中国红树林保育联盟，根据网站给出的数据：

自从1975年香港米埔红树林湿地被指定为自然保护区，1980年建立东寨港省级红树林自然保护区以来，中国对红树林的保护工作逐渐重视。至今，我国建立了以红树林为主要保护对象的自然保护区20个，其中国家级6个（海南1个、广西2个、广东2个、福建1个），省级5个（海南、广东、广西各1个、福建2个），县市级9个（海南5个、广东4个）。保护区总面积约6.50万公顷，其中红树林面积约1.67万公顷，占中国现有红树林75.9％，为我国红树林湿地的有效保护提供了重要基础。