Botanic park survey work secured for future

(CNS): The Botanic Park is installing permanent conservation survey plots after securing funding from the UK’s Darwin Plus local grant scheme for the overseas territories. Around one hundred permanent survey plot markers will be installed to document the biodiversity of its natural woodland well into the future.

The installation of permanent survey markers will ensure that this work recording important and endangered species can be easily replicated.

The brainchild of Nick Johnson the park’s horticultural manager at the time, an extensive survey of the native forest was carried out during the COVID closure in 2020-21 with the help of local volunteers as well as Stuart Mailer, veteran nature guide and former Environmental Programmes Manager at the National Trust. The grant will also ensure that this survey will be fully databased with the help of the UKOT Conservation Team at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

“Habitat conservation is so important for the Cayman islands,” said Johnson. “Permanent survey plots, identifying rare or endangered species and monitoring them over a number of years, helps conservationists understand habitats and fill seed-banks, so that we can restore what was and conserve what is. Signing up to the already tried and tested TIPA programme will help fast-track this process,” he added.

“I am very pleased that the many hundreds of hours of volunteer work that were performed during the original nature survey will now be permanently recorded as a baseline for monitoring future changes,” said Mailer in a release about the project.

John Lawrus, General Manager at the park said the first phase of installing the survey beacons will be completed next week.

“Though much Darwin Initiative supported work has and continues to be carried out at the Park, from Blue Iguana to Ghost Orchid conservation this is the first Darwin Plus grant for the Botanic Park as Lead Partner,” he explained.

Both Johnson and Mailer will be sharing some of the results of the survey at a Walk-and-Learn on Sunday, 10 December, from 3-5 pm, to introduce the project and the role that Tropical Important Plant Areas play in achieving national plant conservation goals.

For more information on the Woodland Reserve and trail visit www.botanic-park.ky. To register for the Walk-and-Learn please email: info@botanic-park.ky