Tag: Department of Environment

Over 1,000 turtle nest recorded this season

Over 1,000 turtle nest recorded this season

| 06/11/2023 | 11 Comments

(CNS): The Department of Environment and its team of volunteers have recorded over 1,000 turtle nests on beaches across Grand Cayman this season, the first time since official monitoring began some 25 years ago. With at least 1,003 nests documented and more unrecorded ‘surprise’ nests turning up after they have hatched, the final count for […]

Continue Reading

Local conch back on the menu as season opens

Local conch back on the menu as season opens

| 01/11/2023 | 13 Comments

(CNS): Residents can once again enjoy fresh local queen conch and whelks until the end of April, as the fishing season opens today. However, conch is still endangered, and the Marine Park rules and boundaries remain in full effect at all times. No conch or whelks may be taken from within the Marine Reserve, even […]

Continue Reading

Over 500 reef and nurse sharks in local waters

Over 500 reef and nurse sharks in local waters

| 19/10/2023 | 17 Comments

(CNS): Scientists from the Department of Environment have published the first estimates of population sizes and home ranges for Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks in Cayman Islands waters and the first estimate of the reef shark population globally. Footage from baited underwater video systems (BRUVS) and photo ID, used as a non-invasive alternative to […]

Continue Reading

Cats going back to the wild after snip by NGO

Cats going back to the wild after snip by NGO

| 17/10/2023 | 67 Comments

(CNS): 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 […]

Continue Reading

11-storey redo of 7MB condos faces major backlash

11-storey redo of 7MB condos faces major backlash

| 11/10/2023 | 81 Comments

(CNS): Dozens of condo owners in complexes next to Aqua Bay Club on Seven Mile Beach are objecting to a proposal by the owners there to redevelop the existing apartments into a glass tower, which the planning department has said is at least eleven storeys. The Department of Environment has also raised concerns about the […]

Continue Reading

Liveaboard dive boat runs aground on Sandbar

Liveaboard dive boat runs aground on Sandbar

| 21/09/2023 | 20 Comments

(CNS): Aggressor Adventures, the owners of the liveaboard dive boat, the Cayman Aggressor IV, which ran aground in the North Sound on Thursday morning, have said it is no longer on the Sting Ray City sandbar and was being moved to her anchorage this evening. The owners said there were no injuries, everyone was safely […]

Continue Reading

CPA taking Boggy Sand case to Privy Council

CPA taking Boggy Sand case to Privy Council

| 20/09/2023 | 104 Comments

(CNS): The courtroom battle over the redevelopment of a controversial cabana and seawall in a marine park area on Boggy Sand Beach in West Bay that has pitched two government boards against each other is headed to London. In a surprising turn of events, given that the Central Planning Authority has lost a judicial review […]

Continue Reading

Controversial cabana torn down after court decision

Controversial cabana torn down after court decision

| 04/09/2023 | 37 Comments

(CNS): The cabana on Boggy Sand Beach, which is behind the long-running courtroom battle between the National Conservation Council and the Central Planning Authority, was taken down this weekend. Following Friday’s decision by the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal, when the CPA’s appeal against a judicial review was dismissed, workmen began dismantling the failing structure. […]

Continue Reading

NCC prevails in legal battle with CPA

NCC prevails in legal battle with CPA

| 01/09/2023 | 86 Comments

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Court of Appeal has dismissed the Central Planning Authority’s appeal challenging a direction from the National Conservation Council that it should not grant planning permission for the redevelopment of a beachfront cabana on Boggy Sand Beach. The high court confirmed on Friday that the National Conservation Act provides the NCC with […]

Continue Reading

Historic Boggy Sand cottage under threat

Historic Boggy Sand cottage under threat

| 29/08/2023 | 61 Comments

(CNS): A Caymanian wattle and daub cottage in the heart of Boggy Sand, estimated to be over 100 years old and in relatively good condition, is under threat because the landowners want to move the house to make way for a modern duplex, according to a planning application. The iconic property, built on ironwood stilts, […]

Continue Reading

Sea temperatures put local coral at more risk

Sea temperatures put local coral at more risk

| 02/08/2023 | 13 Comments

(CNS): The record-breaking local sea temperatures this summer have already gone beyond the threshold that coral reefs can comfortably tolerate, more than a month ahead of the expected seasonal peak. Department of Environment (DoE) Deputy Director Tim Austin, a marine scientist, has said this is causing real concerns. The DoE has been monitoring the marine […]

Continue Reading