Land Habitat
Turtle has narrow escape from dog attack
(CNS): A nesting turtle narrowly escaped serious injury after she was attacked by two dogs on a local beach earlier this month. The incident was caught on CCTV at an important turtle nesting beach, the Department of Environment said this week in a social media post sharing the images. The turtle made it back to […]
EIA concerns still unfounded
(CNS): The Department of Environment reviewed 140 planning and ten coastal work applications in May, June and July, but did not require any developers to conduct an environmental impact assessment. Government has pointed to this element in the National Conservation Law as one of the reasons why it created a committee to review the legislation, […]
Cullers shoot condo with stray pellet
(CNS): Iguana cullers have been issued another warning by police and officials from the Department of Environment after a condo at a North Sound canal community was hit by a stray pellet from an air rifle, which smashed a glass panel. Both the DoE and the police have issued warnings about the rules of the […]
UK charity buys 10 acres of bio-diverse local land
(CNS): The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is buying ten acres of land in East End bordering the Salina Reserve to protect the habitat for birds and other species. This is the first time the UK charity has purchased land in an overseas territory and it will be doing so in partnership with […]
NCC seeks to protect unique Brac plant
(CNS Local Life): The National Conservation Council is about to embark on a public consultation to create a species conservation plan for an endemic Cayman Brac plant. Sybil’s crownbeard (Verbesina caymanensis), a small shrub unique to the Brac, was listed in 2013 as critically endangered as it is found nowhere else in the world other […]
GM mozzies pass on altered gene
(CNS): The genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes developed by Oxitec may have impacted the actual genetics of the natural mosquito populations where these bio engineered bugs were released, scientists have found. Following a release in Brazil, similar to the one in the Cayman Islands, researchers who monitored the release said that up to 30 months after the […]
Cullers race to combat iguana hatchlings
(CNS): With 885,383 green iguanas in the proverbial bag, the army of local cullers are now racing to keep pace with the invasive reptile’s breeding season. After a drop in the numbers culled during July and August, the Department of Environment is keen to ensure the cull remains on track now that the animals are […]
Planning law needs to support conservation law
(CNS): As government reviews the National Development Plan and the planning law and regulations, Department of Environment (DoE) Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie says that changes to planning legislation were always needed to help support the goals of the National Conservation Law. But there are fears in the community that not only is government going to gut […]
Real protection needed to stop mangrove clearance
(CNS): The Department of Environment is hoping that if Cabinet accepts the recommendations of the National Conservation Council for a species protection plan for mangroves, it will help curtail the constant clearance of these important plants for development. With a number of sites, from West Bay to Snug Harbour, being cleared of mangroves in recent […]
DoE to address pet parrot problem
(CNS): The Department of Environment (DoE) is giving people who are keeping Cayman’s national bird as a pet the chance to regularise that ownership before they begin a clampdown on the poaching of local parrots. A six-month amnesty will start next month, during which people who have pet parrots can register them. But after that, […]
Future of Boggy Sand Beach in jeopardy
(CNS): The shifting sand on one of West Bay’s most famous beaches has caused considerable public concern this summer as large parts of it disappeared. Beaches are dynamic, with sand coming and going depending on the time of year and seasonal weather conditions, but the recent disappearance of a swathe of Boggy Sand Beach has […]
