The COVID-19 pandemic has implications for coastal planning and management. Rules for isolation and physical distancing, among other measures for human life protection, have led to the closure of most beaches around the world. The present critical situation has raised the following question: How can some recommendations be designed in sun, sea, and sand tourism-dependent-insular countries to face "the COVID-19 new normality?" We used the content analysis technique to analyze representative publications on a global level to ascertain information on best management practices. A survey of 58 experts provided additional information. We used inferential statistics for sample selection and produced a list of 43 practices and beach planning and management actions to face the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to 27 new recommendations designed for beach planning and management within insular contexts, some of which were tested in the Republic of Cuba. Recommendations aim to guarantee a culture of safety and improvement within the field of beach or coastal planning and management. These recommendations should prove useful for other insular countries, during the COVID-19 period, in the new normality that follows, and in other post-pandemic scenarios.

This article aims to determine the level of social perception of coastal risk (SPCR) of the population in the face of hurricanes in the southeastern region of Cuba. Semi-structured interviews to inhabitants of the coastal municipalities' object of study were carried out, with the purpose of collecting data for assessing the following aspects: SPCR when facing hurricanes; causes leading to High, Medium or Low SPCR; sources of information; levels of knowledge about coastal legal issues; levels of responsibility concerning risk management actions, and measures suggested to increase SPCR in the case of hurricanes. A group of 568 people were interviewed. Types of structural, non-structural and ecological vulnerabilities after the impact of hurricanes were also identified, as well as the socioeconomic , socio-psychological, communicational, organizational, natural and socio-political factors that influenced their perception of risk. The results showed medium and low levels of SPCR in the population studied. The research concludes with the proposal of some coastal protection actions to be considered in the Plan to Face Climate Change in the Republic of Cuba.

No abstract

El objetivo del presente artículo fue caracterizar el estado de salud de los manglares en el municipio Guamá, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. Se evaluaron aspectos fisonómicos del bosque y su índice de salud. Se realizaron 78 entrevistas a personas en los asentamientos próximos a las áreas estudiadas para evaluar el conocimiento y comportamiento comunitario sobre los manglares. Se identificaron 14 tensores ambientales entre los cuales se documenta por primera vez en los estudios cubanos la sedimentación o acreción de sedimentos además de la construcción de viales, el avance de la frontera agrícola, la ganadería, la extracción de madera y la tala furtiva. Se concluye que, en los nueve manglares estudiados, la salud varió de muy alta a baja de acuerdo con el número de tensores ambientales en cada uno de ellos. De los tensores ambientales en la zona, 85% son de origen antrópico, específicamente relacionado con el desarrollo socioeconómico y 15% relacionado con eventos naturales. De manera general, la salud del ecosistema en el municipio Guamá es baja, a pesar de lo cual mantienen sus servicios ambientales.

No abstract

This article uses the category of spatial justice as an analytical variable to explore the coastal planning of Cuba and Brazil, in the face of the challenge of climate change. The research was conducted using a qualitative methodology, applying the technique of content analysis to instruments of physical planning, based on spatial justice indicators provided in the study. These included territorial boundaries, uses of coastal space, environmental conflicts, public participation, urban insecurity, climate migration, and social exclusion, which enabled integration of coastal planning elements in the dimensions of space, policies, and tensions in different socio-economic contexts. New variables are added to the concept of spatial justice and it is shown that this constitutes an analytical category, which, expressed through coastal planning, puts both countries in better conditions to face the impacts of climate change.

Human activities often drive landscape degradation and the associated loss of value. This paper describes a method that, by integrating multiple factors, characterize landscape value to establish relevant and effective management practices. The new integrated method for landscape assessment (IMLA) is a four-step model that includes: (i) establishment of a general theoretical basis for sustainability relevant metrics; (ii) characterization of the landscape; (iii) landscape valuation; (iv) recommendations for landscape value management. Each step includes different interactive components of analysis. The new IMLA considers the potential range of values associated with each landscape unit and facilitates sustainable landscape management. The method is systematic and includes both inductive and deductive reasoning. Its articulation is represented in the conjunction and overlapping of all factors and variables considered. IMLA was tested in Santiago de Cuba Bay (Cuba) and used to determine five landscape scopes, eight first-order landscape units and 29 s-order units. It proved to be a useful tool to establish landscape values and sound management strategies. Application of IMLA in Cuba will help local authorities institute land-use plans and to establish decision-making processes that include valuation of cultural landscapes.

Determinar las características y comportamientos diferenciados de los procesos de ocupación del suelo y consolidación urbana en frentes de playa, resulta un antecedente necesario a la concepción de acciones de intervención y ordenamiento territorial en espacios litorales. El presente artículo, tiene como objetivo caracterizar las tipologías de frentes de playa asumidas: 1) frente de playa urbano; 2) frente de playa de asentamiento y 3) frente de playa asociado a complejo turístico. Para ello se estructuró un procedimiento de caracterización a partir de 16 variables de análisis agrupadas en 4 categorías, que permiten identificar las similitudes y divergencias que manifiestan los componentes del medio físico construido en cada tipología. El procedimiento fue validado en tres frentes de playas del municipio Guamá de la provincia Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. La principal conclusión indica que las variables de mayor diferenciación entre las tipologías identificadas son los relacionados con la categoría Estructuración Funcional.