Tag: Department of Environment
Mangrove protection official
(CNS): Cayman’s mangroves now have official legal protection, which should, finally, prevent these dwindling yet critically important species from being removed by developers without consequence. On Monday, the National Conservation Council gazetted the adoption of a Species Conservation Plan, which formalises mangrove protection in law and outlines the very strict conditions under which they can […]
DoE watching out for the stingrays
(CNS): Following concerns in the community about Stingray City, the Department of Environment has said that its marine conservation officers are making sure the star attractions there are doing OK and getting the food they need. With no tourists going to the Sand Bar to feed them, the DoE said that the rays will revert […]
More mangroves illegally cleared
(CNS): Despite continued calls from the Department of Environment to stop the clearance of mangroves on sites without planning permission, developers are still ripping up these critical species. The Central Planning Authority considered an application for after-the-fact land clearance in Prospect on Wednesday, after a developer removed several acres of mangroves, which were part of […]
Longest turtle nesting season closes with high count
(CNS): After the longest ever recorded turtle nesting season in the Cayman Islands, researchers have confirmed that 675 nests were counted between the discovery of the first nest in April on Grand Cayman to the last found in December in Little Cayman, where the final little hawksbill turtle, Cayman’s rarest nesting turtle, was helped out […]
Gov’t urged not to allow 7MB doomed plan
(CNS): A complex engineering project that has been proposed to replace sand on a stretch of Seven Mile Beach is doomed to failure and will cause even more problems, the Department of Environment has warned. Urging government not to allow a coastal works application by the owners of the Marriott Beach Resort and several nearby […]
Fisherfolk credited for grouper project success
(CNS): One of the lead scientists behind the Nassau grouper conservation project in Cayman, which is receiving accolades all over the world, has credited local fisherfolk for their sacrifice, which enabled the conservation work. Department of Environment researcher Croy McCoy, one of the lead authors on the report published in the academic press this month, […]
Hawksbill turtle killed by fishing line
(CNS): Local divers found a dead hawksbill turtle off the coast of Lighthouse Point on 30 December, the Department of Environment has said. It was found at a depth of about 80 feet with its left front flipper wrapped in fishing line. Hawksbills, which are critically endangered, lay very few nests on our shores and […]
Grouper conservation an official success
(CNS): Successful conservation efforts in the Cayman Islands to protect the now critically endangered Nassau grouper have been documented in an academic report, published this week, that underscores how important marine protection can be. The Grouper Moon Project, a joint effort by the Department of Environment and US-based scientists at the aggregate site off Little […]
DoE warns of King Tides and calls for info
(CNS): Cayman is expected to experience some ‘King Tides’ from this weekend, according to scientific predictions, and the Department of the Environment is asking people to help them collect information on these higher than usual tides and potential flooding. DoE officials said they need data to better measure the effect such tides can have, coupled […]
Iguana cull secures budget for 2020
(CNS): Having already killed well over one million invasive green iguanas, local cullers will be able to continue their important work in 2020 to keep the population down after financing was secured for the cull to continue in 2020. By the end of December, hunters had killed 1,123,526 iguanas, but the prolific breeding ability of […]
DoE urges end of illegal land clearing
(CNS): The Department of Environment has expressed deep concerns, once again, about the continued clearance of land on potential development sites before planning permission has been granted. Responding to another situation, where four acres of mangroves and important flora were removed illegally, the DoE urged planning to educate the public about the law because trying […]
