Land Habitat
Geospatial image update captures changing landscape
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Department of Lands and Survey, using a specialist private company, has completed an updated aerial image survey of the three Cayman Islands showing the state of the landscape, as captured in February 2023, including topographic data such as buildings and roads. The project used state-of-the-art technology to capture orthomosaic imagery, which […]
Trust backs NCA as development outpaces conservation
(CNS): The National Trust for the Cayman Islands has hit out at those claiming development is being fettered by conservation legislation. The long-established non-profit organisation, which has a permanent seat on the National Conservation Council, has said that it is difficult, if not impossible, to see how the National Conservation Act is stopping development, given […]
DoE director continues to fight misinformation
(CNS): The director of the Department of Environment is continuing to correct misinformed critics of the DoE and the National Conservation Council who accuse them of delaying development. Gina Ebanks-Petrie has said, again, that the issues relating to planning delays are a result of the Central Planning Authority’s inaccurate interpretation of the National Conservation Law […]
Colourful African lizard poses new threat to natives
(CNS): The Department of Environment is issuing an alert over the first recorded sighting of a red-headed rock agama (Agama agama) on Grand Cayman. The small invasive lizard, which is a native of sub-Saharan Africa, was spotted last Thursday in the industrial centre of George Town, next to the container yard where international shipments have […]
MPs use fund to pay for DoE’s general budget
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government is disputing allegations it raided the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), which is paid for by fees collected from tourists and ringfenced for conservation, to fund part of the Department of Environment’s general operating budget over the next two years. Despite the denial, MPs did vote to use the fund in […]
New law tightens protection for local flora
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has successfully steered the Plant Protection Act, 2023 through parliament in order to tighten the rules around importing plants that may harbour pests and threaten the local flora. Cayman’s native plants and trees are at risk from a range of new plant pests, such as the ever-present mealybug to the […]
Cats going back to the wild after snip by NGO
(CNS):Â Alley Cat Allies, the international charity that founded Global Cat Day, marked on 16 October spent the day in Grand Cayman providing spay and neuter surgery for up to 100 cats and distributing hundreds of pounds of cat food to help local caregivers in a counter campaign to government’s control programme. But officials with the […]
Trust buys 14.4 acres of Sesuvium marsh on LC
(CNS): The Little Cayman District Committee of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands (NTCI) has purchased a 14.4-acre parcel of land in the Snipe Point area at the east end of the island. The parcel contains part of the Sesuvium marsh habitat, one of ten distinct habitats found on the island first listed by […]