ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ

With relations between the United��States and Cuba thawing, the island��nation beckons a growing number of��American tourists and businesses. But��not everybody is fantasizing about the��Caribbean country’s potential as a vacation��destination and profit center.��

Take Dan Whittle (Law’89), for instance,��senior attorney with the nonprofit��Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): He��sees increased tourism and business as a��veritable “tsunami” threatening Cuba’s��long-standing commitment to natural��resources protection.��

“Cubans are well aware of the opportunities��and challenges associated with��opening up,” said Whittle, who leads��EDF’s Cuba Program. “Most Cubans��I know see it as a real opportunity to��grow the economy. There’s a fierce debate��about where to strike the balance.”��

President Obama has pushed hard for��normalizing relations with Cuba and in��March became the first U.S. president to��visit in nearly a century. Americans are traveling��to Cuba in record numbers and U.S.��businesses are scouting opportunities there.��

All that presents risks to local ecosystems,��said Whittle, who has been��helping safeguard Cuban ecosystems for��more than 15 years and has traveled to��Cuba more than 70 times — 11 in the��last year alone.

“The health of shared marine and terrestrial��ecosystems depends directly on��environmental decision-making in both��countries,” he said.��

Whittle’s personal interest in the��outdoors became a commitment to the��environment while he was at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ, partly��through a law school seminar about��natural resources.��

He joined EDF in 1997 and became��involved in Cuban affairs in 2000, while��running an EDF program to help fishermen��on the U.S. East Coast establish sustainable,��profitable fisheries. A colleague suggested��expanding the program to include Cuba,��given its ecological connection to the U.S.��via ocean currents and its exceptional biological��diversity. Cuban officials signed on��and EDF’s work there has blossomed since.��

One project underway involves protecting��a quarter of the island’s insular platform��— a nearly 27,000-square-mile coastal��region that is home to thousands of species��of fish, crustaceans, sponges and mollusks,��as well as 1,360 miles of pristine coral reefs.��

Whittle’s work involves convening scientists��and policymakers from Cuba and��the U.S. to coordinate the habitat assessments��necessary to develop and advocate��for environmental policies.��

“Both countries have an interest in the��environment, and it’s not terribly political,”��Whittle said. “I’m cautiously optimistic.”��

Whittle grew up in New Hampshire��and Kentucky and studied economics��and German at Vanderbilt. An advanced��natural resources seminar at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ��Law with professor Charles Wilkinson��helped steer him toward work as a professional��environmentalist.

“We spent the semester looking at management��of two national parks and five��national forests in the Yellowstone area,��and the many conflicts around public land��use,” Whittle said. “The course taught me��about the importance of getting diverse��viewpoints around the same table when
making decisions about natural resources.��I am still using lessons learned from��that experience.”��

Photo��by Noel Lopez Fernandez