7. CUBA

The FAO Workshop on NWFP in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Santiago, Chile in 1994 (1995b), included participation by Cuba. A country report was authored by Dildonio Lorente Ruiz. The report addressed six categories of products and provides some data on production and value, and distinguishes between collected and cultivated sources. A new study of NWFP in Cuba was under way in late 1998 but the results were not available for incorporation into this report. The table accompanying this report contains data on 12 product classes.

NWFP are an important component of the rural economy of the island of Cuba. On the basis of data, which are available for this report, the leading commercialized products are the following:

• resin
  
• bark
  
• tree seed
  
• fodder
  
• construction and wrapping material
  
• tannin
  
• coconut and cocoa cultivation
  
• fruits
  
• honey

Cuba’s natural beauties, especially its beaches, are a tourist attraction. There is only incomplete information on protected areas in Cuba. Four natural reserves exist with a combined area of 24 305 ha (IUCN 1982).

Noteworthy gaps in data on NWFP in Cuba exist in the categories of ornamental plants, bamboo, essential oils, medicinal plants, spices, edible oils, dyestuffs, gums and mushrooms. Most if not all of these gaps should be filled by the FAO study which is in process.

7.3.1 Resin, bark and tree seeds

Cuba’s extensive areas of tree plantations (448 000 ha in 1994-95) furnish resin (annual average 668 t, 1989-1993), bark (annual average 6 234 t, 1984-1993) and tree seed (annual average 880 kg, 1988-1993).

7.3.2 Construction and wrapping material

Cuba has a rich native palm flora and it provides several products for which data are available. Palms are a primary source of thatching material; palm leaf sheaths and petioles are employed to cover tobacco bales and to make furniture.

7.3.3 Fodder

Pigs and other livestock feed on palm fruits (6 000 t per year 1989-1993).

7.3.4 Tannin

Mangrove is a source of tannin in Cuba; in the period 1989-1993, average annual production amounted to 247 t, valued at US$27 900.

7.3.5 Fruits

The mountainous region of eastern Cuba is a source of several wild fruits (7-8 000 t per year).

Coconut production totalled 26 000 t and cocoa 2 000 t in 1997.

7.4.1 Honey

Cuba registered 6 000 t of honey production in 1997.

Coppen, J.J.W., Hone,G. A. 1995. Gum naval stores: turpentine and rosin from pine resin. Non-Wood Forest Products 2. FAO, Rome.

FAO. 1995a. Forest resources assessment 1990. Tropical forest plantation resources. Forestry Paper 128. FAO, Rome.

FAO. 1995b. Memoria: consulta de expertos sobre productos forestales no madereros para America Latin y el Caribe. Forestry Series No. 1, Santiago.

FAO. 1997. Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission. State of forestry in the region - 1996. Forestry Series No. 8. FAO, Santiago.

FAO. 1998. FAO production yearbook. Vol. 51 – 1997. FAO, Rome.

IUCN. 1982. IUCN Directory of Neotropical Protected Areas. Tycooly Publishing, Dublin.