the Najasa Fossil Forest

CAMAGÜEY, Cuba. – The Najasa Fossil Forest, located in the municipality of the same name, in the southeast of the province of Camagüey, is considered one of the most interesting natural heritages in the country. Despite its great paleontological value, it currently suffers from destruction and abandonment.

This fossil forest has several sites: one of them is Santa Rosa, located 6 kilometers from the main entrance of the Sierra del Chorrillo Protected Area (La Belén) and 79 kilometers from the provincial capital.

It is estimated that in the forest there are around 49 floristic species in a state of petrification. Erosion has partially exposed the sites, revealing the remains of fossilized plants. Four cores make up this fossil forest, and although some sites are in a good state of conservation, such as La Clotilde and Santa Rosa, others, such as San José del Chorrillo and La Caridad, have been affected by the removal of land ordered by the regime with agricultural purposes.

Residents in the area attribute the destruction of the forest to the Cuban regime. “They sent buldocear the area and they ended everything,” said one of the sources consulted. Then the Flora and Fauna Company began to carry out investigations at the site. However, according to locals, the place is currently abandoned, without signage.

In 2001, it was listed as a Featured Natural Element, but only La Caridad was taken into account. Subsequently, on December 22, 2005, it was declared a National Monument by the National Monuments Commission, attached to the National Council of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, and was also included in the National System of Protected Areas of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.

The discovery of this fossil forest is attributed to the priest Pío Galtés in 1887, who found various specimens of plant fossils in the place. At that time, according to local residents, the trees were whole: “they even had leaves,” they say.

However, the priest Modesto Galofré, interested in the fossil forest, discovered that Galtés had made some errors in several of the classifications, so he requested help from an American specialist and sent some samples to New York. The specialist concluded that it was a flora from the Cretaceous period, more than 70 million years old.

The place is of great scientific interest due to its geological, paleontological and botanical character. The petrification of the plant remains gives it invaluable cultural and heritage value.

Although studies have been carried out that indicate the need to protect and conserve this site as a natural and cultural heritage, the object of future scientific research and a tourist attraction, the necessary measures have not yet been taken for its preservation.