麻豆影院

With relations between the United聽States and Cuba thawing, the island聽nation beckons a growing number of聽American tourists and businesses. But聽not everybody is fantasizing about the聽Caribbean country鈥檚 potential as a vacation聽destination and profit center.聽

Take Dan Whittle (Law鈥�89), for instance,聽senior attorney with the nonprofit聽Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): He聽sees increased tourism and business as a聽veritable 鈥渢sunami鈥� threatening Cuba鈥檚聽long-standing commitment to natural聽resources protection.聽

鈥淐ubans are well aware of the opportunities聽and challenges associated with聽opening up,鈥� said Whittle, who leads聽EDF鈥檚 Cuba Program. 鈥淢ost Cubans聽I know see it as a real opportunity to聽grow the economy. There鈥檚 a fierce debate聽about where to strike the balance.鈥澛�

President Obama has pushed hard for聽normalizing relations with Cuba and in聽March became the first U.S. president to聽visit in nearly a century. Americans are traveling聽to Cuba in record numbers and U.S.聽businesses are scouting opportunities there.聽

All that presents risks to local ecosystems,聽said Whittle, who has been聽helping safeguard Cuban ecosystems for聽more than 15 years and has traveled to聽Cuba more than 70 times 鈥� 11 in the聽last year alone.

鈥淭he health of shared marine and terrestrial聽ecosystems depends directly on聽environmental decision-making in both聽countries,鈥� he said.聽

Whittle鈥檚 personal interest in the聽outdoors became a commitment to the聽environment while he was at CU, partly聽through a law school seminar about聽natural resources.聽

He joined EDF in 1997 and became聽involved in Cuban affairs in 2000, while聽running an EDF program to help fishermen聽on the U.S. East Coast establish sustainable,聽profitable fisheries. A colleague suggested聽expanding the program to include Cuba,聽given its ecological connection to the U.S.聽via ocean currents and its exceptional biological聽diversity. Cuban officials signed on聽and EDF鈥檚 work there has blossomed since.聽

One project underway involves protecting聽a quarter of the island鈥檚 insular platform聽鈥� a nearly 27,000-square-mile coastal聽region that is home to thousands of species聽of fish, crustaceans, sponges and mollusks,聽as well as 1,360 miles of pristine coral reefs.聽

Whittle鈥檚 work involves convening scientists聽and policymakers from Cuba and聽the U.S. to coordinate the habitat assessments聽necessary to develop and advocate聽for environmental policies.聽

鈥淏oth countries have an interest in the聽environment, and it鈥檚 not terribly political,鈥澛燱hittle said. 鈥淚鈥檓 cautiously optimistic.鈥澛�

Whittle grew up in New Hampshire聽and Kentucky and studied economics聽and German at Vanderbilt. An advanced聽natural resources seminar at Colorado聽Law with professor Charles Wilkinson聽helped steer him toward work as a professional聽environmentalist.

鈥淲e spent the semester looking at management聽of two national parks and five聽national forests in the Yellowstone area,聽and the many conflicts around public land聽use,鈥� Whittle said. 鈥淭he course taught me聽about the importance of getting diverse聽viewpoints around the same table when
making decisions about natural resources.聽I am still using lessons learned from聽that experience.鈥澛�

Photo聽by Noel Lopez Fernandez