Southville looks to Cuba for a lesson in sustainability

The Green Party in Bristol

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Southville looks to Cuba for a lesson in sustainability

18th January 2007
For immediate release

A top Cuban agronomist will be telling Bristolians how his country's farmers have developed a rich and diverse rural economy without overstretching the Earth's natural resources.
At a public meeting at the Southville Centre in Beauley Road at 7.30 on Thursday February 1st, Dr. Humberto Rios Labrada will be joined on the platform by local Green Party councillor Charlie Bolton.
Dr Rios Labrada's research and teaching in the field of plant breeding and small scale farming has established him internationally as an authority on sustainable agriculture. In Cuba, the key is 'participatory plant breeding' with local farmers as the key players in developing new strains.
Green Party spokesman Tess Green said:
"There's lots of interest in sustainability in Southville, so we're really looking forward to meeting Dr Rios Labrada. Maybe he can give us some clues to help Bristol toward becoming a 'Green City'. "
"According to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) Cuba is the only country that has achieved sustainable development. Wealthier countries like Britain and the USA are living far beyond what the planet can provide; at the other extreme, most African countries have a far less damaging 'footprint', but most have to live in poverty. Cuba, perhaps under the pressure of the US embargo and the end of fertilizer imports from Russia, seems to have found an answer"

Notes:

Tess Green hopes to join Charlie Bolton representing Southville as a Green on the city council in the May local elections

The meeting is organised by the Bristol South Green Party and the Bristol Cuba Solidarity Campaign

Contact:
Tess Green, 0117 985 2795
Peter Goodwin (Green Party Press Officer) 01275 543280

Links:

Living Planet Report (WWF) at http://assets.panda.org/downloads/living_planet_report.pdf

Article in 'Spore' about Dr Rios Labrada's work, at http://spore.cta.int/spore102/spore102_view.html

Download a poster for the meeting (MS Word)