Community projects of the National Botanical Garden as a contribution to local development in Cuba

Abstract

Environmental educators from the National Botanical Garden of Cuba executed five community projects between 1996 and 2022;four of them in Havana: Ceiba SOS (1996-2000), in the municipality of Playa; Alert Community (1998-2022) and Save the Globe(2006-2010), Boyeros municipality; Álamo barrio adentro (2010-2022), Arroyo Naranjo municipality; and Salvemos a la Petate(2005-2017), in the western province of Artemisa, Bahía Honda municipality. The objective of this work is to highlight thedifferent community projects developed by specialists from the National Botanical Garden as a contribution to local development.The documentary study, participant observation, group work and open interviews and surveys served as a theoretical andmethodological basis for the work carried out. The projects involved different community actors, such as artisans, decision makers,students (from primary, secondary and pre-university education), gardeners, family doctors, the elderly and people with disabilities,and religious, among others. These contributed to fostering interest in local history and an adequate environmental andconservationist culture among those involved, as well as solving local environmental problems, including the elimination of micro-dumps, the planting of native trees in parks and gardens, the restitution of endemism in situ.