Parc national Alejandro de Humboldt

Brève description

© Evergreen

Justification d'inscription

Critère (ix) : Les dimensions, la diversité altitudinale, les lithologies complexes et la diversité de la géomorphologie du PNAH nous donnent une gamme d’écosystèmes et d’espèces sans égal aux Antilles. Le site a été un refuge du Miocène-Pléistocène, notamment durant les ères glaciaires pour le biote antillais. Les rivières d’eau douce qui dévalent des sommets du parc sont parmi les plus grandes des îles des Antilles et, de ce fait, comptent une diversité biologique d’eau douce élevée. En raison de la présence de serpentine, de péridotite, de karst et de pseudo-karst dans la région, le PNAH est un exemple excellent de processus d’évolution en cours pour les espèces et communautés établies sur des roches sous-jacentes qui posent un défi particulier à la survie des plantes.

Critère (x) : Le PNAH contient les habitats naturels les plus importants pour la conservation in situ de la diversité biologique terrestre de toutes les îles des Antilles. Il contient 16 des 28 formations végétales définies à Cuba, la plus grande île des Antilles, qui est une province biogéographique unique. C’est l’un des sites les plus importants pour la conservation de la flore endémique dans tout l’hémisphère occidental – près de 70% des 1302 spermatophytes déjà décrites, sur un total estimé entre 1800 et 2000, sont endémiques dans le parc. Le PNAH est un des écosystèmes terrestres insulaires et tropicaux les plus divers du monde sur le plan biologique. Le taux d’endémisme des vertébrés et des invertébrés du parc est également très élevé. Beaucoup d’entre eux sont menacés en raison de leur aire de répartition réduite. En raison de leur caractère unique et du fait qu’ils représentent des processus évolutionnaires uniques, ils ont une valeur universelle exceptionnelle pour la science et la conservation.

Description longue

The park is located in north-eastern Cuba and covers most of the central part of the Saqua-Baracpa mountain range. The site includes a complex system of mountains, tablelands, coastal plains, bays and coral reefs. In particular, coastal plains represent the highest and elongated system of plateaus and watersheds in the Caribbean region, with large weathering crusts and karstic or pseudo-karstic geological formations. The site includes the block of Farallones de Moa, a geological and biogeographic 'island' composed of basic and ultra-basic serpentine rocks. This contains the karstic system of Farallones de Moa Great Cavern. Several rivers flow from the park, including the Toa-Jaguani, Duaba, Jiguani, Nibujon and Moa.

The site has the highest plant diversity of the Cuban archipelago and the insular Caribbean. The park is also considered as the least explored natural area in Cuba and there still are locations from where a collection has never been made. The terrestrial vegetation contains 16 of the 28 plant formations for Cuba, including low-altitude, submontane and montane rainforest, cloud forest, xenomorphic sub-thorny shrub, pine forests, semi-deciduous forest, riverine forest and mangrove forest. Many of the underlying rocks are toxic to plants, so species have had to adapt to survive in these hostile conditions. This unique process of evolution has resulted in the development of many new species.

The park has a flora list of 1,302 spermatophytes and 145 species of pteridophytes, of which 905 species are endemic to Cuba, representing almost 30% of all endemics reported for the country. Of this total figure, 343 species live exclusively in this area. The local flora includes five species of carnivore plant, one of which is Pinguicola lignicola, the only Cuban epiphyte. There are also two endemic species of the genera Podocarpus and Dracaena. According to recent collections, five new species to science have been made in the region, one of which is a pine. A species of the genus Buxus (reported as extinct) was found in the area too. At least 30% of the mammals, 21% of the birds, 83.3% of the reptiles, 95.8% of the amphibians and 27.7% of the insects are local or national endemisms. The area is of particular importance for several species are of particular conservation concern, notably the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis bairdii), thought to be extinct, the Cuban kite, an endemic species whose population has been so reduced that maybe just a few couples remain, and the Cuban solenodon. Forests in the region are important as refuge for many resident and migratory bird species, such as the Cuban Amazon parrot and Cuban parakeet. With regard to reptiles, three new species of Anolis lizard have been recently collected from the park. In the marine part of the park, there are numerous colonies of Caribbean manatee.

At the beginning and middle of the 20th century, the valleys in the coast were occupied in order to raise coconut and cacao. During the 1940s and 1950s, there were some farming activities along the Toa and Jaguaní riverbanks. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was some timber exploitation, particularly of pine, in the area of Ojito de Agua. Within the park the largest human settlement is La Melba.