DoE reminds public of lost wetlands

| 18/06/2019 | 30 Comments
Cayman News Service
Area behind the Ritz-Carlton where mangroves were ripped out to make way for the Dragon Bay development that never happened

(CNS): At the request of a number of people who attended a recent meeting hosted by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, the Department of Environment will be publishing comparative maps showing how much important natural habitat, such as wetlands and mangroves, has been lost on Grand Cayman over the last four decades. As government seeks to gut the National Conservation Law to pave the way for more development, the maps from the DoE will serve as a stark reminder of how much the environment has already been impacted by development.

According the first map, 69% of all wetlands, including mangroves and sedge marsh, on the western end of Grand Cayman has been lost to development. Almost 3,700 acres of wetland were lost between 1976 to 2013.

During the National Trust meeting concerns were raised by those in attendance that the broader public does not realise how much of Grand Cayman’s important natural habitat and resources have been lost. Suggestions were made that the people need more visual aids to encourage them to join the fight to protect the conservation law, and the DoE was asked to publish the maps it has of habitat loss to help deliver the message.

People expressed concerns that the National Conservation Law, which remains the only thing that can at least curtail the excessive and continuous coastal development, was under serious threat, despite the fact that only a tiny percentage of development projects have been affected by the legislation.

Since July 2016, when the relevant section of the NCL took effect, the DoE has recommended to the National Conservation Council that just six projects out of hundreds should be subject to an environmental impact assessment. To date, none of these projects, mostly roads plus the request by one of Dart’s companies to remove beachrock from Seven Mile Beach, have been advanced any further.

The law has done little to undermine development but has encouraged people to think more sustainably and take DoE advice on board to mitigate potential environmental damage from their development proposals. Nevertheless, the government has painted a distorted picture of the law.

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Category: Land Habitat, Science & Nature

Comments (30)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Looks like Planning & DOE did a piss poor job! Or was it ok to overlook the obvious, until now that is.

    Oh we can stop development, but are we ready for the major shift in the way our economy is structured?!! Are we ready to see the economic contract??? I bet not. Anyone who says that we can continue to grow this economy without development is either blind, fool, or in denial.

    I guess the upside would be a decrease in car importation, and traffic!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Who benefits from this development? I don’t see a penny in my pocket when a building goes up. Seriously, who does other than the realtor, developer, contractors, and government? The first three of whom are almost never Caymanian or here for the long term or concerned with anything other than the profit margin, while government is only concerned with the revenue. What is all of this for? It sure as hell isn’t for Caymanians!

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      • Anonymous says:

        Clue:

        You are NOT SUPPOSED to see money in YOUR pocket from these developments that you DIDN’T invest in,

        If you want to see more money in your pockets, then YOU should take the risks and YOU should invest in YOUR developments.

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      • Anonymous says:

        What gives you the impression that because you are Caymanian, your are automatically owed money from these developments?

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      • Anonymous says:

        I agree.

        The time for revolution is NOW.

    • Anonymous says:

      You cry babies are really sickening. We desperately need the development so we can maintain our high life style. Our leaders are doing what is best. Abolish this national trust and environmental laws before it is to late honorable Premier

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      • Anonymous says:

        troll

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      • Anonymous says:

        People the only choice is to revolt whatever the cost today – we have to sacrifice today knowing it will be better for our grand children.

        Greedy Mac and Alden have sold us out for cheap to benefit themselves.

    • Anonymous says:

      Sounds like DOE came to the party a little late.
      So what will happen moving forward any ideas DOE.

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    • Anonymous says:

      8:47, The cost will be a massive lowering in the quality of life on Grand Cayman. At current rates of economic growth we are headed towards an environmental disaster.

      How high do you think Mount Trashmore can grow without an eventual disaster?

      How many more cars can we add to the roads around George Town without massive gridlock?

      Can we really handle 50 storey buildings here?

      You are blind, a fool and in denial about the costs of economic growth on a dinky island.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yeaa yeaaa Dartbot and Chamber of Commerce Bot let the Csyman Islands continue to GROW GROW GROW uncontrollably, while subsidising Mr. Dart with duty free material imports, no planning fees, no Work Permit fees on and on and on the PPM and UDP government have sold us out to Mr. Ken Dart.

      Caymanians are being pushed to the back of the bus by PPM and UDP.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Listen to John Mellencamp’s & Rickie Lee Jones’ “Between a Laugh and a Tear”. Cayman is gone! Thank God I knew its best days!!

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Twisting of figures to make things seem worse than they are.
    69 percent of the west bay peninsula- which is the narrowest part of Cayman. Only a fraction of the went lands of Grand Cayman

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  4. Anonymous says:

    Humans are reminiscent of viruses. Destroy and move on without any concern to co exist.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    CNS – Where might the DOE have published the said maps? Would have been helpful to your readership to have included a link to the DOE page…

    CNS: We provided the link to the Facebook page of the maps published so far.

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    • Anonymous says:

      There are a number of folks who are Facebook Deniers. Please publish web links (URLs) whenever possible in addition to Facebook links.

      CNS: Point taken.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    They paved paradise.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    ‘for lack of wisdom the people perish’. how true and how sad that we are destroying our environment.

    We need to be in prayer that God will forgive; but remember Sodom and Gomorrah!

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    • Anonymous says:

      God can’t help, but standing up against the minority of religious people who’ve allowed this to happen might.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I’m not a religious person but your first sentence is spot on.

      GC is becoming just another location in the long list of places I’ve seen in my near 70 year lifetime that have been trashed in the name of ‘progress’.

      And I’ll offer this thought, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Mat 24:23-24). Not something that comes from my personal beliefs but it seems appropriate.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Good. No need for all that mosquito breeding ground.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    We have a great Department of Environment. Too bad some of our “leaders” won’t listen to anything unless it’s profitable to themselves.

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