In 2010, PBS Nature aired a stunning documentary about Cuba’s environment called Cuba: The Accidental Eden. The film showed footage of natural areas and nearly pristine ecosystems, from healthy coral reefs off Cuba’s northwest coast to the fertile wetlands and mangrove forests of Zapata Swamp National Park in the south. It also featured the work of Cuban scientists who, with low salaries and few resources, remain dedicated to protecting and sustaining the country’s rich and diverse natural heritage. The show left many viewers with the impression that conservation in Cuba was a fluke, an accident brought about by 50 years of political isolation and economic deprivation.

Some pundits have even suggested cynically that the US embargo is the Cuban environment’s best friend and, once it is lifted, uncontrolled tourism and the rush for economic development will wipe out the island’s natural areas and forever tarnish the Crown Jewel of the Caribbean.