Havana, Cuba.- President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Monday informed about a large forest fire in areas of the Alexander von Humboldt National Park in eastern Cuba.

On his Twitter account, the president noted that for some days, forces from the Forest Rangers’ Corps and environmental authorities from Holguin and Guantanamo provinces are fighting the fire in areas of that important biodiversity site.

The Alexander von Humboldt National Park is considered Cuba’s major and best preserved natural protected area, not only because it holds the largest wealth of endemic species in the country, but because it has the largest remnant of mountainous ecosystems in Cuba.

Located north of Holguin and Guantanamo provinces, the park covers an area of 79,680 hectares and its levels of biodiversity and endemism are among the highest in the Antilles and the world.

This zone holds 2 percent of Cuba’s plant and animal species, including 905 endemic species, nearly 30 percent of those reported in the country.