Jorge Ramón Cuevas

Distinguished biologist and ecologist. He presided over the Pro Naturaleza Society. Until the time of his death, he hosted the Cuban Television program "Entorno", dedicated to the dissemination of environmental issues.

He was born in the City of La Habana. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from the Universidad de La Habana in 1969. In 1974 he obtained the academic degree of Doctor in Ecological Sciences from Martin Luther University (Germany), fulfilling his aspiration as an ecologist.

He was nominated in 1995 for the Volvo Plise Foundation (in Sweden) an award given to outstanding individuals in the defense of the environment. He obtained numerous medals, awards and diplomas in relation to his research results on ecosystems and species both in Cuba and abroad.

He was director of INIFAT, in Santiago de las Vegas, Habana and president of the earthworm farming group of the Institute of Soils in Cuba. He held the position of President of the Cuban NGO Pro-Naturaleza, which promotes and finances numerous environmental projects in different provinces, including agreements to finance the community project of this museum institution directed at the community of Juraguá in Santiago de Cuba. He set important precedents in the ecological culture of our country, working on some of the fundamental problems related to the issue on the Island.

He died in the city of Camagüey on August 2, 2000 in an automobile accident.

To remember this cherished figure, several institutions related to the environment in our country, colleagues, friends and children who continue to appreciate his legacy, gathered at the Casa Alejandro de Humboldt, in the Historic Center of Havana, precisely on the day that the beloved Doctor Jorge Ramón Cuevas would have turned 66 years old. Members of the Cuban Society for the Protection of the Environment Pronaturaleza, headed by its current President María Elena Ibarra and its Vice Presidents Teresita Tellería and Ángel Valdés, together with the Pronaturaleza societies of the San Cristóbal Group of La Habana and the National Institute of Fundamental Research for Tropical Agriculture, as well as representatives from the National Botanical Garden and the Center for Marine Research, evoked that man who contributed so much to the natural sciences. The meeting began with the evocative words of María Elena Ibarra herself, and as a culmination, a floral offering was placed next to the bust of this distinguished naturalist, which the Humboldt House possesses.

Effigy donated by the Milwaukee Public Museum and which also bears an inscription with a maxim pronounced by Ramón Cuevas himself: "Let us conserve the earth and the life it contains, it is the pillar that will always sustain us"

An iron defender of environmental conservation and an excellent communicator and educator—it suffices to remember that he was the creator of a television program of great acceptance, Entorno, which subsequently also had its radio version on our station, Habana Radio, which joined the tribute. Cuevas was nominated in 1995 for the Volvo Prize Foundation Award, an honor granted to outstanding personalities in the world who promote and work patiently in the preservation and care of the habitat.

He was also the first person to obtain votes to become a member of the Pronaturaleza society, in addition to setting important precedents in the ecological culture of our country, working on some of the fundamental problems related to the issue on the Island.

Events held in Cuba to remember his legacy
"Image of Nature" Festival JORGE RAMÓN CUEVAS IN MEMORIAM
Jorge Ramón Cuevas Annual Community Environmental Education Award