Flora
Flora is of vital importance to the lives of men and animals. Plants occupy the first link in the food chain, while purifying the environment and adorning the landscape. Cuban flora can be considered one of the most extraordinary on earth. Few countries of equal size offer such a varied and species-rich flora.
Vegetation is an important economic resource, from it we can extract the materials for the textile industry, for the manufacture of medicines, the main food for the population, protects the soil, stabilizes the climate and provides the much-needed wood for constructive development.
Mahogany, juniper, cedar, oak, guayacán, ocuje, baría, copey, almacigo, yagruma and others abound in this territory. Here there were extensive forests in the first half of the 17th century, the Spanish Navy ordered the cutting of wood in this area for the construction of ships and palaces in Spain. Among the causes for which the forests disappeared in the municipality were the following:
Historical development of agriculture.
The use of natural forests as wood or fuel.
The invasion of introduced species alien to our natural vegetation (this is the case of the marabou, which is native to Africa, but was perfectly adapted to the Cuban climate and today there are thousands of caballerias of this plant that make it impossible for them to be cultivated).
Urban and oil development.
Many natural plant formations have been replaced by others as a consequence of the forest population.
Pineapple (Ananas comasus (L) Morril) can be seen from the indigenous species of Cuban flora in the municipality; the anon (Annona squamosa, L); soursop (Annona niuricata); the red mamey (Poutoria mammo Sal); the star apple (Chrysophyllum caimito. L); the guava (Psidium guava. L); the jobo (Spondias mombon. L); the cashew (Anacardium occidentale. L); the palm (Acrocomia armentalis (Morales) Balley); among other.
Since time immemorial, man has used plants with medicinal properties to combat certain diseases, those that they have grown in gardens, orchards or take them directly from their natural habitat. The most widespread here are: cordoban (it has hemostatic properties, it is used to cure small hemorrhages from the mouth, uterine and hemoptysis); yagruma and caña santa are pectoral plants that serve to combat colds; yamagua (it has great hemostatic properties such as cordoban); the wild coriander, the bitter broom, the holy cane and the eucalyptus are febrifuge plants; apasote and mouse pineapple have veronifuge properties; the seedling, the pumpkin fruit, the anon, the soursop and the plantain have properties to combat stomach disorders; Mastuerso, Cuban platanillo, horse stew, and bermuda grass are used as diuretics to combat kidney stones.
The plant formations that can be found currently in the territory are:
Vegetation of swampy coasts (in the Cienaga de Majagüillar you can still see authentic mangroves, four species, the patabán and the yana).
Dry forest where the seedling, the baría, the yana, the guao, different species of palms, carob trees and others abound.
Marsh shrub forests, here grow yana and hicaco.
Semi-deciduous forests, these have been disappearing to give rise to sugar cane plantations and other crops.
Different savannas, mostly used for cattle breeding.
Some of the new species introduced in Cuba and spread throughout the municipality are: casuarina, El Marabú, rosemary, rue, frankincense, marjoram, sage, geranium, French oregano, good herb, basil , lemon balm and others.
Some aspects of the flora of the municipality and name of the most representative species of them have been pointed out, but it should be noted that the most typical floral elements of our fields are the royal palm and the sugar cane, the latter is the exotic plant species most important brought to the Cuban soil, because the sugar industry thrives on it.
A necessary aspect to deal with our flora is the fact that occurred in 2006, when the appearance of Magnolia virginiana (Magnoliaceae) in the Cienaga de Majaguillar was reported for the first time in Cuba, further enriching the already vast arcennial of existing plants in this wetland.
The Municipality also has a line of cays that, due to the diversity of their flora, make an important contribution to our forest resources, in which case the Refuge of Fauna - Cayos de las Cinco Leguas stands out, which emerged as a protected area in 1992, Resolution No. 375 of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers; This category has been maintained at all times, ratified in 2000, by resolution of the Executive Committee of the Minister's Council.
The flora in this area is made up of 95 species and 45 botanical families, of which the best represented families with 5 genera and 11 species are poaceae; Astaracrae with 7 genera and 7 species; Euphorbiaceae 5 Genus and 5 species; Fabaceae, Rubiaceae and Verbenaceae with 4 genera and 4 species. Of the 91 species identified, 20 species of ornamental value are presented; 18 are timber; medicinal properties are attributed to 18; 11 have ecological importance due to the role they play in the ecosystem and 10 are honey-bearing.
Wildlife
"Animals are a renewable natural resource ... as long as man knows how to use them reasonably, he can count on them generation after generation." In the municipality you can see a varied fauna. Towards the north in the coast and majagüillar swamp there are crabs, snails, fish, jicoteas, shorebirds and swimmers, mosquitoes and hutias.
The swamp mayir, chirridor, is an endemic bird and has been located north of Itabo. The Bibanasí mountain range constitutes a natural reserve, where there are snails, ants, termites, mancaperros, butterflies, endemic birds (the zunzuncito, the banana sijú and others), spiders, wasps, centipedes, majaes, bees and jutías.
Specialists from the Itabo Experimental Station have also observed the tocororo, the national bird. In the rest of the municipality there are a series of insects such as ants, flies and cockroaches. There are also lizards and birds such as the kestrel, the quail, the freshwater chicken, the muleteer, the swift, the bobito or pitibobo and the negrito; in addition to a large number of domestic animals.
The fauna of this municipality, like that of the whole country, is poor in mammals, but it has other very numerous zoological groups, especially mollusks (both marine and terrestrial), crustaceans (such as the blue and red crab, which in the months of May and June are highly persecuted by man, as they constitute an excellent dish), birds (a large number of them in transit) and fish (marine or freshwater). The latter are scarce these days since the laws of nature are violated and they are persecuted in the spawning and breeding season, using prohibited fishing gear and instruments for their capture. Among the indigenous mammals that Cuba has, in the municipality we find the jutía.
These are commonly called the short-tailed short-haired conga (Capromys (capromis) pilorides pilorides) with little hair, the long-tailed and hairy warthog (Capromys (mysateles) prehensilis prehensilis), and the Andalusian hutia (Capromys (mysateles) melanurus melanurus) . They are located in the Sierra de Bibanasí, on the coast and in the keys adjacent to it.
The bat is another of the autochthonous mammals, also called Chiroptera, of which there are more than twenty species. Here they are located in the Bibanasí mountain range and in the branches of the leafy trees.
They are the only mammals able to fly. Some woodcutters have seen a couple of manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus, L), a mammal that belongs to the indigenous Cuban fauna, towards the mouth of the La Palma river. It lives in the mouth of the rivers and in the brackish water estuaries. Its capture is permanently prohibited, since it is extinct due to the persecution to which it has been subjected, because it has delicious meat and very resistant ropes are made from its skin.
The Brachyphylla nana nana located between Martí and Sabanilla de la Palma is an indigenous animal of the order of the Chiropteros, represented in Cuba by twenty-six species, grouped into six families. The related Spanish conquerors of the XV century undertook and carried out the work of acclimatization and introduction of the largest animals of which there is memory in history, in this way dogs arrived in the country; cattle, horses, goats and sheep; pigs; cats; rabbits and poultry (chickens, geese, turkeys). The bee (Apis millifica.) Was brought from Florida by Spanish emigrants, they produced more honey and wax than the indigenous species, the creole bee (Trigona fuloipeda guorin). The deer was introduced to Cuba from Yucatan (in the municipality they can be found in the forested areas of Las Puentes, Río La Palma and Sierra de Bibanasí). Other animals introduced into the country were the sparrow and the ferret, the latter considered a predator because it destroys the birds' nests. In addition to being a carrier of hydrophobia (rabies)
