New Rangers needed to help save mangroves

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Mangrove Rangers are looking for new recruits who can play a hands-on role in helping save this critical and dwindling habitat. A number of the current Rangers are leaving Cayman to go to college, and organisers are hoping to attract some new members. The Mangrove Rangers programme offers young people the chance to learn about, and interact with, mangrove habitats, as well help with critical mangrove protection activities, such as data collection, outreach and event planning.

“In our second year of operation, we are looking for new Mangrove Rangers to help us protect Cayman’s mangrove forest,” said Mangrove Rangers Director Martin Keeley. “It’s a fun and exciting programme and a very vital way to save our mangroves.”

In recent months the Mangrove Rangers have been active in alerting the community and the authorities to mangroves being illegally removed and have drawn much needed attention to mangroves under threat. They have produced some import educational videos and are fast becoming an intrinsic part of Cayman’s growing environmental movement.

The Rangers also recently hosted an art competition to raise awareness of the plight of the species. The inaugural Cayman Mangrove Festival Student Art Show involved more that 30 students from Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac, alongside ten invited artists, who all contributed their mangrove-inspired art to the event focused on the islands’ wetlands. 

Students were tasked with creating art of any style of their choosing on the environmental, cultural or economic value of Cayman’s mangroves, which inspired a diverse range of submissions, including painting, sculpture, knitting and fashion. The charity event raised hundreds of dollars in support of the Cayman Islands Mangrove Rangers through donations, art sales and workshop partnerships with STOAK’D and Art Nest Creative Studio.

The winning pieces from the student art show will be used to design a 2022 Cayman Islands Mangrove Rangers calendar, which will raise funds to support the nonprofit organisation’s goal of promoting mangrove education and conservation. 

“We are so happy that the first Cayman Mangrove Festival was a success,” said Dinara Perera, the lead Mangrove Ranger and event organiser. “The artworks from our student and invited artists were all amazing and we hope that this experience will help to pave the way for a cultural shift in Cayman about the importance of our mangroves.”

To register interest in the student mangrove art calendar, submit your details here.

Anyone interested in becoming a Mangrove Ranger can email info@mangroverangers.ky