Eight workers from Las Tunas Integral Agroforestry Company are in the province of Pinar del Río to assist in the recovery efforts following the passage of Tropical Storm Idalia, which caused extensive damage to the socio-economic infrastructure of the area.

Las Tunas, Cuba - Osmel Fernández Cruz, director of the Las Tunas unit, said the brigade is made up of four chainsaw operators, two assistants, a driver, and a tractor operator who have agreed to remain in the affected area as long as they are needed.

He noted that this group traveled with the necessary equipment, tools, and means of transportation to cut the trunks of the trees that fell as a result of the strong winds, remove them from the forest areas, and ensure their use, as well as the limbs.

Fernández Cruz recalled that at other times, the agroforestry workers from Las Tunas have moved to the areas affected by different meteorological phenomena. This brigade already was in the westernmost Cuban province after the scourge of the powerful Hurricane Ian.

Now, they are working to restore the splendor of the Guanahacabibes Peninsula, a beautiful setting in the municipality of Sandino, which has a forest cover of more than 85%, mostly natural forests, with some 125 species of high-value timber, 146 medicinal and 122 of honey.