Havana, September 8 (RHC)-- Rosalaura Romeo, the Secretary of the Rome-based Mountain Partnership, has praised Cuba's mountain management program, known on the island as the Turquino-Manati Plan.

Set up in 2002 during the Johannesburg Earth Summit, the Mountain Partnership is a global voluntary alliance of national governments, intergovernmental organizations, local and regional authorities, NGOs, the private sector, the academic community, and other major group representatives dedicated to improving the lives of mountain people and the protection and stewardship of the mountain environments around the world.

The UN expert said that the Cuban program offers very valuable experiences in the efficient development of mountainous areas, given its high economic, social and environmental values.

Romeo said that over the years, the alliance has used the Cuban program as a good example of mountain management, which empowers the local population by giving them a decisive and leading role in the development of mountainous areas.

Launched in 1987, the Turquino-Manati program covers 18 percent of all Cuban mountainous areas, as well as other areas considered as strategic reserves. In all it expands through 50 municipalities and benefits some 700 thousand people.

In 1987, the Cuban government also set up the Reforestation System, known as Manati Plan in western Cuba. It aims at preserving the environment and developing timber sources and forests.