Ecologists are appealing to the press to stress the importance of the El Pomier caves, in San Cristóbal. They hope to emphasize that the country has more to gain in exploiting the region as an ecotourism site rather than as an area for quarrying limestone.
Last week, Geraldino González, environmental reporter for the Listín Diario, wrote that the National Parks Department is studying a scheme that would protect the El Pomier caves, in view of their archaeological value. Investigations in the area show that it is the most important prehistoric legacy in the Antilles, with over 4,000 wall paintings and some 5,000 rock drawings. Its importance to the Caribbean region has been compared to the Egyptian pyramids in the Middle East, or the Altamira and Lacaux caves in Europe.
In cave No 1 alone, there are 590 pictograms that make it superior to any other cave paintings site in the Antilles.
The National Park is considering requesting that the protected area be extended to four kilometers. It has been given category three according to the Union Internacional para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza. Those that seek its protection argue that the site’s preservation would constitute better economic sense than its exploitation for quarrying limestone used in construction.
Furthermore, the caves are a refuge to large numbers of bats that control insect populations, contribute to reforestation by spreading the seeds of wild fruits they consume, as well as acting pollinating agents, thereby promoting the production of wild and cultivated plants and fruit.
A researcher, Domingo Abreu Collado, says that the importance for the world is such that the International Committee for Cave Art and the International Federation for Cave Art have begun a world campaign for the caves to be declared by the UNESCO as a world heritage site, which would be beneficial for the country’s tourist industry.
Mr Abreu said that this opportunity could be lost if quarrying continues to destroy the bio-speleological treasures of the area. He said that the large amount of carbon dioxide generated by the quarrying operations is contaminating the area, causing the deterioration of historic and natural resources. It is said that around a dozen companies have quarrying operations in the vicinity of El Pomier caves.