A new project on Cuban sea grass is being evaluated today

Havana, May 19 (ACN) Cuban environmentalists are today evaluating the possibilities of implementing a new project called Thalassia testudinum, one of the species that is part of the national seagrass.

The topic will be discussed in a special workshop in a plenary session, which will be held at the Trip Habana Libre Hotel, a promoter from the Environment Agency (AMA) of the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA) explained. , ,

He said this constitutes an initiative aimed at its conservation, sustainable use and harnessing of its anticancer properties in the development of pharmaceutical products.

It is supported by Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), CITMA and is executed by WADA’s Institute of Marine Science (ICIMAR).

The Office of Regulation and Environmental Safety (ORSA), the Marine Research Center (CIM), belonging to the University of Havana, and the Laboratorios Oriente, Business Group of the Cuban Biopharmaceutical Industry (BioCubaFarma), also cooperate in its achievement.

With a duration of 4 years, its tasks will support the completion of scientific research to create an application file for a clinical trial of a pharmaceutical product and the development of management protocols and recommendations for the conservation and sustainable use of seagrass by local communities. Will be with the design. , the AMA noted.

The intervention sites will also evaluate the environmental quality of the seagrass ecosystem, including its carbon sequestration potential, in areas east of Havana, north of Camagüey and south of Santiago, Cuba

He expressed his confidence in the fact that its results can be achieved through the participation of scientific institutions in Havana, the Cuban pharmaceutical industry and the community of Rincón de Guanabo.

He added that its application will contribute to strengthening the national regulatory framework for access to genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use for the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol (Japan) in the country.

The latter is known in English by the acronym ABS, which Cuba followed in 2015 after submitting its supporting documents to the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Thalassia testudinum is one of the most common seagrass species off the coast of Havana and the Caribbean, where its meadows protect the coast from the impact and intensity of waves in the event of extreme hydrometeorological events.

In addition, they serve as habitats for other growing marine species, as a source of food and help regulate carbon levels in the atmosphere through its absorption or sequestration.

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Cuban researchers value the use of some of its constituents as providers of antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, antithrombotic, hypocholesterolemic, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic effects through its industrial processing.

They speculate its effectiveness against acute damage produced by ultraviolet radiation on the skin in acute inflammation.