Brac conservation consultation in works
(CNS): The National Conservation Council is about to begin a new consultation process to place a number of important natural and cultural sites on Cayman Brac under legal protection. This follows the process on Grand Cayman in which the then environment minister, Wayne Panton, presented five sites to Cabinet and successfully secured orders for the first ever natural land sites to be protected under the National Conservation Law.
While the environment no longer has a champion in Cabinet, the NCC, supported by many members of the public, is not giving up and remains hopeful it can still secure legal protection for more important sites.
During a recent NCC meeting, fred Burton, the Department of Environment’s Terrestrial Resources Unit manager, said that several sites on the Brac would soon be presented to the public for consultation, which is the next step on the road to getting them designated protected areas. The sites under consideration were selected by the public during the first nomination process last summer. Since then, Burton’s unit has been assessing the viability and speaking to landowners about the possibility of protecting the areas of significant conservation interest.
The NCC hopes to have the details of the four potential Brac sites prepared and ready for public consideration in the next few weeks. These include the Bluff cliffs, Hemmington Forest (which is described as being filled with important native wildlife), and the East Lighthouse Park, which received multiple nominations for protection. Burton said there were compelling reasons for them to be protected and that some of the relevant landowners had already confirmed their willingness to sell and support the conservation goals.
The next round of nominations is expected to begin this month. Burton explained that the nominations made last year would not fall away but his department would continue looking at the management feasibility, reshaping potential sites around landowners willing or unwilling to sell, and working out the most viable options.
He told the NCC that a combination of factors had led to more land now being available for the already confirmed Barkers area in West Bay, which received overwhelming support from the community in the first round of protected areas. As a result, he said, his unit would be working as fast as they could to go through the necessary consultation process to get the plots of land added to the site to protect what is shaping up to be a significant area of protected beachfront, which will be something Caymanians will be able to directly enjoy for its own sake as well as conserving this important dwindling habitat.
Category: Land Habitat, Science & Nature
I hope that the Brac resident that the blasting is cracking up the house enjoyed my comment.
All these so called environmentalist made their big bucks damageing the environment and now they want the rest of to starve to protect it.
How, exactly, does your comment relate to the article? OR did they not offer to buy your land and now you’re upset?
If you all knew the financial state Scott Development is in you would understand why they are doing this, the Brac is dead Scott’s would have to shut down if it wasn’t for Bing, and the same fools keep voting Moses and Julianna in..
The government seriously needs to put controls on the Scott’s before they blow up the bluff anymore – they have already ruined enough!!
You sick
Totally agree. Every time they blast I get a new crack in the foundation on my house….2 miles away.
Your Bluff is being chipped down to build up Dart mountains at Camana Bay.
Anonymous 10:38pm. Have you reported to Planning Department that the blasting is cracking up your house? Are you measuring and documenting those cracks in your house?
Better do your homework or you going to have a lot of expenses on your hands caused by someone else and not natural cause.
Problems with blasting should be reported to the National Roads Authority. The licensed blaster has insurance. Make a claim.
While the Scott’s quarry maybe a vital part of Cayman Brac economy it is not sustainable. I understand that the aggregate from Cayman Brac cost more in the Brac than it does here in Grand.
How can it be a vital part of the Brac economy if it benefits only the quarry owner and the shipping company owner (who between them employ only a handful of Caymanians)?
What’s gonna happen if they shut down, where are we gonna get sand, cement etc?
Cuba.
The same place that Dart got the sand he put at public beach on SMB. I believe that was South America?
Which is way tougher, hotter and a completely different color.. even though words from the grape vine suggested that over time it would turn white and blend in….
Chill bro we needs the money to buy a little smoke