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Cayman Net News
Posted on Thu, 04/02/2009 – 22:59

(CNS): The International Reptile Conservation Foundation (IRCF) has said that letters of congratulations and expressions of relief that Cayman’s endemic Blue Iguanas can be saved for the long term are pouring into their office in California as the news spreads of a new protected area in the east interior of Grand Cayman. The Blue Iguana Recovery Programme (BIRP) announced this week that the government had formally committed to protecting almost 200 acres of Crown land through a 99-year peppercorn lease to the National Trust.

In addition, the Trust is receiving a European Union grant for managing this area to conserve the Blues in the wild, along with their unique shrubland habitat.

John Binns, the CEO of IRCF, said, “The Cayman Islands Government is to be commended for its decisive action in providing prime habitat to help save the world’s most endangered iguana. Considering that Grand Cayman covers only about 76 square miles, the government’s landmark decision to preserve some of the island’s last remaining prime real estate for its flora and fauna is a benchmark for island conservation.”

The grant also focuses on developing sustainable, low-impact nature tourism, education and recreation with a visitor centre and trail system. (See CNS: New home for the Blues)

“For those of us who have personally struggled and sacrificed, as well as the countless local and international folks who have contributed to changing the course of a species headed on a fast track to extinction, this news is simply overwhelming,” said Binns. “It brings the Caymanian people one step closer to ensuring that the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana will be around for their children’s children to admire, and raises hope around the world that species can be saved. Despite the loss of some very special Blues along the way, the Blue Iguana Recovery Program has been blessed with success unmatched by any other reptile conservation program of which I am aware. It is by all rights a model conservation program.”

Thanking those who have supported BIRP over the years, he said, “Although much work remains to be done and many challenges have yet to be faced before we can relax our vigilance, a summit has truly been reached.”

Nevertheless, BIRP director Fred Burton says they will still have to raise much more money to complete the programme, including funds for access to the area.

Read the Article at Cayman News Service online here: http://www.caymannewsservice.com/science-and-nature/2009/04/02/relief-over-blues-protection

Shrubland - Photo: Douglas Bell

The Cayman Islands Government has just formally committed to protecting almost 200 acres of Crown land in the east interior of Grand Cayman, through a 99-year peppercorn lease to the National Trust.

The Blue Iguana Recovery Programme said the decision by Cabinet is linked to a European Union grant to the National Trust, for managing this area to conserve Grand Cayman Blue Iguanas in the wild, along with their unique shrubland habitat.

The grant also focuses on developing sustainable, low-impact, nature tourism, education and recreation with a visitor centre and trail system.

In a media release, the programme quoted Minister of Tourism and Environment, Hon Charles Clifford, saying, “The preservation of our indigenous Blue Iguana is important to our country and I am grateful Cabinet was able to allocate an appropriate piece of property to the National Trust to assist them in their efforts to save the Blue Iguanas.

“I also want to thank the European Union for their grant which makes this project possible. The grant along with the allocation of the land by Cabinet provides a tremendous boost to the National Trust’s efforts to establish a viable population of Blue Iguanas in their natural habitat.” Programme Director, Fred Burton said, “This is the breakthrough we have been working towards for years”.

“With this new protected area secured and available for iguana releases, we are now in sight of the kind of success that is all too rare in the world today. The Grand Cayman Blue Iguana really can be saved from extinction, and in a few more years the Cayman Islands may be able to boast that they have achieved just that.”

This area is almost all pristine dry shrubland, a wild rocky landscape with views over the generally low native vegetation. This is an environment that Blue Iguanas thrive in. It also supports a range of endangered plants, several of which, like the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana, are unique to the Cayman Islands.

Read the article: http://www.caymannetnews.com/news-14557–1-1—.html

Cayman News Service
Posted on Wed, 04/01/2009

Grand Cayman Blue Iguana - Photo: John Binns

(CNS): Grand Cayman’s famous Blue Iguanas are one more step further away from extinction following Cabinet’s decision to allocate Crown property to the National Trust coupled with a grant from the European Union to develop the protected area, where 100 hatchling Blue Iguanas will be released in 2010. However, the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme’s director Fred Burton says they will still have to raise much more money to complete the programme. (Photo by John Binns)

The EU grant is designed to cover 57% of the total cost of this particular project, which will fund the majority of the cost of a visitor centre and trails, plus education and awareness materials and programmes that will be based there, Burton said. However, BIRP and its supporters will have to put in a significant amount of other money and paid time, as well as find the funding for the access. “So, there is challenge which comes with the opportunity!” Burton said.

He further noted that the EU grant will be in Euros which as has since lost buying power here in the exchange rate. “So we are expected to, and will have to, raise a fair sum more to be able to deliver.”

In a released statement, BIRP said the Cayman Islands Government had formally committed to protecting almost 200 acres of Crown land in the east interior of Grand Cayman, through a 99-year peppercorn lease to the National Trust. The decision by Cabinet is linked to a European Union grant to the National Trust, for managing this area to conserve Grand Cayman Blue Iguanas in the wild, along with their unique shrubland habitat. The grant also focuses on developing sustainable, low-impact nature tourism, education and recreation with a visitor centre and trail system.

BIRP noted that in 2008 the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme began rearing over 100 hatchling Blue Iguanas, trusting that a new protected area would be established in time to release them in 2010. Now a release site is guaranteed, these young iguanas do indeed have a future, and another hundred or more Blue Iguanas will hopefully be hatched in 2009, for release in 2011.

While blanket protection of the environment in the form of a Nation Conservation Bill was not brought before the Legislative Assembly under the current administration, the release said Minister of Tourism and Environment, Charles Clifford, wished the conservation effort of this programme every success.

“The preservation of our indigenous Blue Iguana is important to our country and I am grateful Cabinet was able to allocate an appropriate piece of property to the National Trust to assist them in their efforts to save the Blue Iguanas. I also want to thank the European Union for their grant which makes this project possible. The grant along with the allocation of the land by Cabinet provides a tremendous boost to the National Trust’s efforts to establish a viable population of Blue Iguanas in their natural habitat,” the minister said.

“This is the breakthrough we have been working towards for years,” said Burton. “With this new protected area secured and available for iguana releases, we are now in sight of the kind of success that is all too rare in the world today. The Grand Cayman Blue Iguana really can be saved from extinction, and in a few more years the Cayman Islands may be able to boast that they have achieved just that.”

According to BIRP, this area is almost all pristine dry shrubland, a wild rocky landscape with views over the generally low native vegetation. This is an environment that Blue Iguanas thrive in. It also supports a range of endangered plants, several of which, like the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana, are totally unique to the Cayman Islands.

The Trust must now acquire access to the land, and a Protected Area Planning Team will commence work on the overall land use plan, including site location for the visitor centre and layout of the trail system.

Eastern protected areas Grand Cayman - Photo: Blue Iguana Recovery Programme

New nature reserve for Critically Endangered Blue Iguana

March 2009. The Cayman Islands Government has taken decisive action to help save the world’s most endangered iguana. Almost 200 acres of government-owned prime dry shrubland habitat in the east interior of the Grand Cayman is being protected, to provide area for restoration of the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana, Cyclura lewisi.

5 feet long
The Grand Cayman Blue Iguana is a sky-blue, herbivorous, giant lizard. Growing to five feet in length, these iguanas have a life span comparable to humans. They are entirely unique to the island of Grand Cayman in the north-west Caribbean.

2002 – Less than 25 iguanas alive in the wild
A vegetarian giant with red eyes, this was once Grand Cayman’s largest land animal, but Blue Iguanas have suffered a catastrophic decline as humans settled the land. Predation by introduced dogs and cats has been compounded by accelerating habitat loss, and now road kill. By 2002 less than twenty-five wild individuals remained.

Blue Iguana Recovery Programme – 250 wild iguanas
In 2002 the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme (BIRP) was launched, expanding from early captive breeding efforts by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands which started in 1990. The BIRP has achieved remarkable progress over the last seven years, bringing the wild population of Blue Iguanas from functional extinction in 2002, to some two hundred and fifty in the wild by 2009.

Supported also by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the International Reptile Conservation Foundation, the BIRP first completed a pilot restoration of wild Blue Iguanas in the QE II Botanic Park on Grand Cayman, developing and testing techniques for successful releases. Then the Programme embarked on large-scale population restoration in the Salina Reserve, a 625-acre National Trust protected area in north-eastern Grand Cayman.

No suitable habitat
Unfortunately less than 14% of the Reserve area is suitable Blue Iguana habitat, which severely limits the extent to which a self-sustaining wild population of Blue Iguanas can be restored there. By 2008 the BIRP was in danger of losing momentum, with the Salina Reserve habitat approaching carrying capacity. Without more protected land becoming available, population restoration for the Blue Iguanas was about to stall.

EU grant
But at the same time, a European Union grant proposal, shared with the Turks & Caicos Islands and the British Virgin Islands, came together in 2008. In the Cayman Islands, the project promises funds to build a visitor centre for a nature reserve featuring the dry shrubland ecosystem, and the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana. The Cayman Islands Government decision has now supported and enabled that project, by contributing government land to establish the nature reserve itself.

There may soon be enough Blue Iguana habitat available to raise the wild Blue Iguana population to a level that can be self-sustained in the long term, especially if the Cayman Islands are successful in adding some adjacent land to the new protected area. A tantalizing prospect is in sight, where a captive breeding programme may no longer be needed, where Blue Iguanas of all ages and sizes are roaming free and protected, breeding and sustaining their numbers without the need for constant human intervention.

From a scenario of little hope in 2002, the BIRP and its partners are now in sight of the kind of success that is all too rare in the world today. The Grand Cayman Blue Iguana can be saved from extinction, and in a few more years the Cayman Islands may be able to boast that they have achieved just that.

Courtesy of the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme
Location of new protected area in relation to Salina Reserve and QE II Botanic Park, Grand Cayman. Green highlight indicates good Blue Iguana habitat.

The Cayman Islands Government has taken decisive action to help save the world’s most endangered iguana. Almost 200 acres of government-owned prime dry shrubland habitat in the east interior of the Grand Cayman is being protected, to provide area for restoration of the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana, Cyclura lewisi.

The Grand Cayman Blue Iguana is a sky-blue, herbivorous, giant lizard. Growing to five feet in length, these iguanas have a life span comparable to humans. They are entirely unique to the island of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, in the north-west Caribbean.

A vegetarian giant with red eyes, this was once Grand Cayman’s largest land animal, but Blue Iguanas have suffered a catastrophic decline as humans settled the land. Predation by introduced dogs and cats has been compounded by accelerating habitat loss, and now road kill. By 2002 less than twenty-five wild individuals remained.

In 2002 the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme (BIRP) was launched, expanding from early captive breeding efforts by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands which started in 1990. Still operating under the aegis of the National Trust, but partnering with the local Department of Environment and the QE II Botanic Park, the BIRP has achieved remarkable progress over the last seven years, bringing the wild population of Blue Iguanas from functional extinction in 2002, to some two hundred and fifty in the wild by 2009.

Supported also by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the International Reptile Conservation Foundation, the BIRP first completed a pilot restoration of wild Blue Iguanas in the QE II Botanic Park on Grand Cayman, developing and testing techniques for successful releases. Then the Programme embarked on large-scale population restoration in the Salina Reserve, a 625-acre National Trust protected area in north-eastern Grand Cayman.

Unfortunately less than 14% of the Reserve area is suitable Blue Iguana habitat, which severely limits the extent to which a self-sustaining wild population of Blue Iguanas can be restored there. By 2008 the BIRP was in danger of losing momentum, with the Salina Reserve habitat approaching carrying capacity. Without more protected land becoming available, population restoration for the Blue Iguanas was about to stall.

But at the same time, a European Union grant proposal, shared with the Turks & Caicos Islands and the British Virgin Islands, came together in 2008. In the Cayman Islands, the project promises funds to build a visitor centre for a nature reserve featuring the dry shrubland ecosystem, and the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana. The Cayman Islands Government decision has now supported and enabled that project, by contributing government land to establish the nature reserve itself.

Especially if the Cayman Islands are successful in adding some adjacent land to the new protected area, there may soon be enough Blue Iguana habitat available to raise the wild Blue Iguana population to a level that can be self-sustained in the long term. A tantalizing prospect is in sight, where a captive breeding programme may no longer be needed, where Blue Iguanas of all ages and sizes are roaming free and protected, breeding and sustaining their numbers without the need for constant human intervention.

From a scenario of little hope in 2002, the BIRP and its partners are now in sight of the kind of success that is all too rare in the world today. The Grand Cayman Blue Iguana can be saved from extinction, and in a few more years the Cayman Islands may be able to boast that they have achieved just that.

For more information, please contact:

Frederic J Burton
Director, Blue Iguana Recovery Programme,
National Trust for the Cayman Islands
fjburton@blueiguana.ky
Tel: +1 345 916 2418

Gina Ebanks-Petrie
Director, Department of Environment,
Cayman Islands Government
Gina.Ebanks-Petrie@gov.ky
Tel: +1 345 949 8469

Samuel Rose
Assistant Secretary,
Ministry of Tourism, Environment, Investment & Commerce,
Cayman Islands Government
Samuel.Rose@gov.ky
Tel: +1 345 949 7900

Quentin Bloxam
Director of Conservation Management
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
Quentin.Bloxam@durrell.org
Tel: +44 (0)1534 860000

John Binns
CEO
International Reptile Conservation Foundation
jfb@ircf.org
Tel (408)270-3886

Download Press Release Here

Posted on the Cayman Islands Government Website at: www.gov.ky
April 1, 2009

Grand Cayman Blue Iguana - Photo: John Binns

The decision by Cabinet is linked to a European Union grant to the National Trust, for managing this area to conserve Grand Cayman Blue Iguanas in the wild, along with their unique shrubland habitat. The grant also focuses on developing sustainable, low-impact nature tourism, education and recreation with a visitor centre and trail system.

Minister of Tourism and Environment, the Hon Charles Clifford, wishes the conservation effort every success. “The preservation of our indigenous Blue Iguana is important to our country and I am grateful Cabinet was able to allocate an appropriate piece of property to the National Trust to assist them in their efforts to save the Blue Iguanas. I also want to thank the European Union for their grant which makes this project possible. The grant along with the allocation of the land by Cabinet provides a tremendous boost to the National Trust’s efforts to establish a viable population of Blue Iguanas in their natural habitat.”

“This is the breakthrough we have been working towards for years,” says the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme’s director, Fred Burton. “With this new protected area secured and available for iguana releases, we are now in sight of the kind of success that is all too rare in the world today. The Grand Cayman Blue Iguana really can be saved from extinction, and in a few more years the Cayman Islands may be able to boast that they have achieved just that.”

This area is almost all pristine dry shrubland, a wild rocky landscape with views over the generally low native vegetation. This is an environment that Blue Iguanas thrive in. It also supports a range of endangered plants, several of which, like the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana, are totally unique to the Cayman Islands.

The Trust must now acquire access to the land, and a Protected Area Planning Team will commence work on the overall land use plan, including site location for the visitor centre and layout of the trail system.

In 2008 the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme began rearing over 100 hatchling Blue Iguanas, trusting that a new protected area would be established in time to release them in 2010. Now a release site is guaranteed, these young iguanas do indeed have a future, and another hundred or more Blue Iguanas will hopefully be hatched in 2009, for release in 2011.

For more information, please contact:

Frederic J Burton, Director

Blue Iguana Recovery Programme, National Trust for the Cayman Islands

fjburton@blueiguana.ky; Tel: +1 345 916 2418

Ricky Ebanks and Todd Byron Paidel. Photo: John Marotta

New BIRP Warden Ricky Ebanks and local volunteer Todd Byron Paidel building a nest mound for the 2009 breeding season, while Harvey Crooked Tail oversees their work.

Click image to enlarge.

Founders Archie and Vivian helping ensure the future of their species - Photo: Stu Petch

The 2009 breeding season has begun! Adult breeding pair Archie, a long time resident of the programme, and his “girlfriend” Vivian, a recently collected wild Blue Iguana from Queens highway, were seen copulating this past Sunday by our local volunteer Stu Petch. Since then we have been very busy preparing the open pens with suitable nest mounds and putting our breeding pairs together according to genetic compatibility and diversity. This year we are looking to break the record of 120 hatchlings that was set in 2008 by collecting all the eggs from of captive breeding facility and again trying to identify and collect as many wild nest eggs as possible. With the breeding season starting a few weeks early we will be excavating eggs a little sooner than expected, but that is not a bad thing. We are still waiting to hear news on the possible acquisition of a new property to use as our third territory. This new land is vital to establish a larger release area and someday reach over 1,000 wild animals in three self-sustaining populations.