Havana, Cuba.- After investing more than two million pesos, Cuba reopened the Amistad forestal hydrologic substation, the only one of its kind in the country.

The facility aims to study the influence of forests on water regulation and their impact on hydrographic basins in tropical conditions.

Created in 1978 and based on an idea of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, the institution is located in La Palma municipality, in the western Pinar del Rio province, and aims to protect rivers and reservoirs more effectively, local media reported.

According to the Tele Pinar YouTube channel, the substation is the second of its kind in Latin America.

In that regard, Agriculture Minister Gustavo Rodriguez said that the facility is a contribution to the State plan to counter climate change.

For his part, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has ratified the government’s commitment to successfully implementing the Tarea Vida program (to combat climate change), which is overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and is based on a multidisciplinary scientific approach that prioritizes 73 of 168 Cuban municipalities, including 63 in coastal areas and 10 in the interior of the country.