Tag: National Conservation Council
Plan afoot to save extremely rare plant
(CNS): The critically endangered Aegiphila caymanensis is a woody, clambering shrub with soft, downy leaves that is unique to Grand Cayman and so rare that it has no common name and until recently was believed to be growing only in two places on the island. The National Conservation Council has drafted a species conservation plan […]
NCC and DoE urge move to green economy
(CNS): As Cayman emerges from the social and economic shutdown in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, local environmental experts are urging government to make it a “truly sustainable economic recovery” and use this opportunity to reset. Cayman needs to turn away from traffic-gridlock, over development and mass tourism towards climate-sensitive and resilient systems, according […]
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 […]
Plan devised for key pond habitat
(CNS): The National Conservation Council has approved a much needed conservation plan for Meagre Bay Pond, one of Cayman’s oldest protected areas. The conservation law provides for management plans to protect important habitat and allow public access. Meagre Bay is in need of help to restore the water quality and the surrounding black mangrove forest, […]
Turtle farm keeps lid on reports
(CNS): Following significant public support for the Department of Environment’s turtle conservation plan, the National Conservation Council has ratified the proposal and sent it to Cabinet for approval. But while the public was fully behind the plan, the Cayman Turtle Centre (CTC) has been less than supportive and refused to share critical data with the […]
Gov’t warned EIA needed for road extension
(CNS): Government is pointing the finger at the National Conservation Council for delaying the start of the East-West Arterial Extension, despite knowing for five years that if it wanted to press ahead with this road it would need to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA). A screening report from the Department of Environment for the […]
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, […]
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 […]
DoE defends conservation law
(CNS): The public is being urged to learn about and understand the National Conservation Law so that they can properly contribute to the current review and make the most of the law itself, which also provides for considerable public input in various areas. Taking to the radio waves last week, officials from the Department of […]
NCC rejects Turtle Centre plan
(CNS): The chair of the National Conservation Council, McFarlane Connolly, has said the NCC will not be accepting a document put forward by the Cayman Turtle Centre because it is not, as claimed, a species conservation plan but a tourism plan, made for the benefit of the Turtle Centre. In a clash between the council […]
NCC aims to save endemic flower from extinction
(CNS): The National Conservation Council has issued an interim directive to protect the critically endangered Grand Cayman False Foxglove (Agalinis kingsii) ahead of a conservation plan for the endemic flower on the brink of extinction and now threatened by development. The Department of Environment said this small flower is “a habitat specialist with an extremely […]
