Ciénaga de Zapata, (Zapata Swamp) located on Cuba's southern shore in Matanzas Province, is the largest of six Cuban sites, designated Wetlands of International importance. It is 6000 square miles in size, and is located in a UNESCO-recognized Biosphere Reserve.

The largest and best-preserved wetland in the Caribbean, the site is outstanding for the diversity of its bird species and for the presence of threatened endemic species. Part of a large karst watershed, the site includes a very large variety of wetland types, including subterranean karst hydrological systems.

The enormous resources of its rivers, lakes, marshes and pools, swamp forests, inter-tidal flats and estuarine waters, as well as a number of human-made wetland areas, are vitally important for the human communities both within the site and in its vicinity. Some 19 communities, with a total population of about 10,000 persons, make their livelihood here, chiefly by forestry, fishing, and tourism.

This wetland has extraordinary cultural value for Cuban and Caribbean heritage, because of its important archaeological sites of ancient pre-agricultural communities as well as the customs and traditions of the current population and their traditional use of natural resources.

The symposium will include Workshops on the following topics:

• Management and control of invasive species
• Adaptation to climate change in wetlands
• Protection and management of crocodiles and other endemic species
• Environmental education in wetlands communities