——Underwater cinematography at Gardens of the Queen FABIAN PINA AMARGOS - You see in this place things that you don’t see anywhere else. In Cuba, in the Caribbean, or even in the world. DANIEL WHITTLE (EDF) - Going to the Gardens of the Queen is like being in the Florida Keys maybe a 100 to 150 years ago. There is nothing there. ...there’s just nothing there except fish and beautiful corals. TITLE: CUBA’S CORAL GARDEN Driving down road...; MAP; loading the boat 50 MILES OFF THE SOUTH COAST OF CUBA IS A LONG STRETCH OF PROTECTED MANGROVES KEYS AND CORAL REEFS THAT IS GIVING MARINE SCIENTISTS HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR OCEANS. CALLED THE GARDENS OF THE QUEEN, IT’S A PLACE THAT FEW PEOPLE EVER SEE. IN MAY, THE NEW YORK TIMES MADE THE JOURNEY THERE WITH A GROUP OF SCIENTISTS FROM THE UNITED STATES. OUR GUIDE WAS CUBA’S TOP MARINE BIOLOGIST, FABIAN PINA. Pina on the bow of the boat PINA (on boat) - This is a really special place, because it’s been protected since 1996. So, it’s the closest that we can get to the pristine environment. This is like a living laboratory where we can try to understand ... the status of wild populations. AT THE GARDENS OF THE QUEEN, WE ENTERED A MAZE OF MANGROVE CHANNELS INHABITED BY HERMIT CRABS, IGUANAS AND LARGE RODENTS CALLED JUTIA. THEY SCAMPERED UP, EAGER FOR A DRINK OF FRESH WATER OR A SLICE OF MANGO. Have you ever seen this many iguanas outside of Cuba like this? NATALIA ROSSI - Only in terreriums, but not in nature. This is pretty unusual. // Cuba, they sustain the healthiest populations because ... the habitat is pristine. The mangroves are in good shape, and they need the mangroves for feeding and refuge. BUT THE TRUE GARDEN WAS UNDERWATER. THERE WERE GROVES OF RARE ELKHORN CORAL TEEMING WITH COLORFUL FISH. MINUTES AWAY, WE DOVE IN AGAIN AND WERE SURROUNDED BY GROUPERS AND CARIBBEAN REEF SHARKS. PINA - The Gardens of the Queen have ten times more sharks and large fish than the surrounding waters. // And the only explanation for that is because of the protection for twenty years. Fidel Castro speaking at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit CASTRO (trans) - Use science to achieve sustainable development without pollution. Pay the ecological debt. IN THE MID 90S, AFTER THIS SPEECH CONDEMNING THE PLANET’S ECOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION, FIDEL CASTRO’S GOVERNMENT BEGAN A RADICAL PUSH TO PROTECT CUBA’S COASTAL WATERS FROM OVERFISHING. WHITTLE - Cuba has by far the most ambitious system of marine parks in the entire Caribbean and a true model for the rest of the world. Pina in the boat talking with Jake about past setnets in the mangroves TODAY, THE GARDENS OF THE QUEEN IS THE LARGEST MARINE PROTECTED AREA IN THE CARIBBEAN. THE ONLY COMMERCIAL FISHING ALLOWED HERE IS FOR SPINY LOBSTER. AND THE MANGROVES, STILL ALMOST UNTOUCHED, PROVIDE A VAST NURSERY FOR YOUNG FISH. ROSSI - Mangrove systems have been pretty much eliminated in the Caribbean. // Here you see everything in its biggest expression. Here you can really see how everything fits together, from the coast to the mangroves to the reefs and how all these ecosystems are connected. DR. PINA TRACKS THE HEALTH AND ABUNDANCE OF THE GARDEN’S TWO PEAK PREDATORS, SHARKS AND GOLIATH GROUPER. Pina - we saw a grouper here last expedition... WE DID NOT SEE ANY GOLIATH GROUPERS OURSELVES, BUT A CUBAN DIVER WORKING IN THE GARDENS OF THE QUEEN SHARED THIS FOOTAGE OF THEM. PINA - The goliath grouper is a critical endangered species // it’s a fish that can weigh like a small car. So that animal needs a lot of food. // 00:33:57 And for that reason, it’s important from the ecological point of view. But also it’s very important as a tourist attraction. It’s this huge animal that everybody likes. TO STUDY THESE LARGE PREDATORS, DR. PINA FIRST HAS TO CATCH AND TAG THEM. THE PROCESS CAN BE INTENSE, BUT LASTS ONLY A FEW MINUTES. SCENE: Capturing and tagging sharks; CU eyes and mouth; measurements WHITTLE - Sharks have declined in many cases by 90% throughout the world, including in Cuba. // 00:13:45 The baseline data that they’re trying to...to collect is absolutely critical. // You can’t manage fishing if you don’t know how many fish are in the water. You can’t protect coral reef ecosystems if you don’t know, you know how they’re being impacted. Release the shark; Fabian whistles Obama announcement AS THE UNITED STATES AND CUBA PREPARE TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS, THERE’S CONCERN IN BOTH COUNTRIES ABOUT HOW THE GARDENS OF THE QUEEN WILL FARE AGAINST A FLOOD OF TOURISM AND BUSINESS. WHITTLE - So many countries are eager to invest in Cuba, to trade with Cuba to develop you know golf courses, marinas, hotels. It’s just a fantastic place and people from around the world will want to come here, to spend vacations here and do business here. All of that is fantastic for the Cuban economy, it’s good for the Cuban people; it’s a challenge to the Cuban environment PINA - 00:17:08 Many, many Americans will come when the blockade, or what you call the embargo ends. // That could bring 100,000, a million visitors and their footprint on nature could be very high. PINA - 00:31:21 If, if that happened in large numbers that could be devastating for, for this area because you see the coral, the elkhorn coral cannot stand a kick with the, with your fin. They break. DR. PINA’S FINDINGS WILL HELP INFORM POLICYMAKERS IN HAVANA WHO ARE BUSY REWRITING CUBA’S RULES - RULES ABOUT HOW MANY SCUBA DIVERS AND FISHERMEN WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE GARDENS OF THE QUEEN AND HOW MUCH INFRASTRUCTURE CAN BE BUILT TO ACCOMMODATE THEM. Tourist lighting cigar near Jardines de la Reina sign “Success!” CURRENTLY, FEWER THAN 3000 TOURISTS COME HERE A YEAR. BUT THAT NUMBER COULD SOAR IF, SAY, THE U.S. EMBARGO ENDS AND REVENUE BECOMES A NATIONAL PRIORITY. DAVID E. SANDLIN, LODGE OWNER, AK - It’s just fun to see it the way it was when Hemingway left here. JOSEPH BRADY, JLL REALTY CHICAGO - Turns out he drank everywhere. DURING OUR STAY, WE MET SEVERAL AMERICAN FLY FISHERMEN DOING CATCH AND RELEASE. THEY WERE STAYING AT THE ONLY HOTEL IN THE GARDENS OF THE QUEEN, A BOAT CALLED THE TORTUGA. SANDLIN - Once they get the transportation and the infrastructure, maybe they’ll be able to handle people. I think a lot of people will want to come here. And then of course eventually it would lose all of its wonderful charm. BRADY - Unless it was conserved SANDLIN - Because we’d have glass and metal highrises all over the place. WITH CUBA’S HISTORY OF CONSERVATION, DR. PINA HAS MORE CONFIDENCE THAT CHANGE WILL BE LESS DRAMATIC. PINA - I have heard that Cuba is pristine because the blockade or the embargo, because we have no people coming here, that Americans haven’t come here for many, many years. // Still we keep the environment in good shape. And that’s because we have decided, Cuba have decided as a country to do it differently. ———— END IT —————