Tickets from Bon Vivant (Governors Square, Grand Cayman) or online at www.caymanislands.ky/cookout

(CNS): A charity wine, dinner and auction next week during Cayman Cookout will benefit the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme (BIRP) and a culinary school scholarship programme, which will help an aspiring Caymanian chef. Sponsored by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands and Jacques Scott Limited, the event will be held on Thursday, 13 January, at 7:00pm at 7 Prime Cuts and Sunsets at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. BIRP grew from a small project started within the National Trust for the Cayman Islands in 1990. A breath away from extinction the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana became the most endangered Iguana on Earth.

In 2002 there were an estimated number of 10 to 25 wild blue iguanas in existence and by 2005 the breed considered functionally extinct. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of BIRP, there are now approximately 500 iguanas in the wild, a number that with adequate funding will continue to grow, preserving these “blue dragons” for generations to come.

This is the third consecutive year that the Jacques Scott Wine Auction and Dinner has benefited the local National Trust. Last year the Wine Auction raised over US$20,000 and the proceeds benefited the restoration of the Eldermire House, a National Trust historic property in Cayman Brac.

“The National Trust is pleased to be working with Jacques Scott and The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman again this year for Cayman Cookout,” said Frank Balderamos, General Manager of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands. “We are extremely thankful for the exposure this event generates and hope that it is successful again this year.”

3 December 2009

Fred Burton MBE receives Blue Turtle Award from JNCC Chair, Peter Bridgewater

Fred Burton MBE has worked in conservation in the Cayman Islands for over 20 years, with the last nine as the Director of the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme – an unsalaried position. He is deeply committed to creating a viable wild population of blue iguanas in their own protected area. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) yesterday evening celebrated Fred’s dedication, at a ceremony held in Peterborough. He was the inaugural winner of the ‘Blue Turtle’ Award for nature conservation in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

JNCC Chair, Peter Bridgewater, one of the panel of judges for the Award, said: “It is not often that one person’s efforts are contribute so much to bringing a species back from the brink of extinction, but in Fred’s case this was absolutely the case. There are many examples of extraordinary professional and enthusiastic work being done to conserve and manage the biodiversity of our Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies by the local populations, often with little fanfare. JNCC wanted to help by, once a year, rewarding the work of a particular individual or group. For 2009, Fred was the unanimous choice of the judging panel.”

Blue Turtle Award

The Blue Iguana Recovery Programme relies heavily on its volunteer programme. Dedicated members of the local community feed and care for the animals in the captive breeding facility, as well as give talks and provide public education experiences. Key volunteers from overseas also contribute time and expertise in areas such as specialist veterinary care and radio tracking of released animals. The Recovery Plan for the Blue Iguana is a collaborative effort that is reviewed every five years with the involvement of representatives from local and international environmental agencies and groups.

Gina Ebanks-Petrie, Director, Department of Environment, Cayman Islands Government said of the Programme: “The Blue Iguana was once referred to as the most endangered rock iguana on the planet. Through Fred’s work a very successful captive breeding programme was established and blue iguanas are being re-introduced to the wild. Fred has taken the programme from a backyard project to a fully-fledged captive breeding facility which produces over 100 young iguanas for release into protected areas each year. The programme has been so successful that it serves as a model for other regional projects.”

Tara Pelembe, JNCC’s Overseas Territories Officer, commented: “We hope this is just the beginning of JNCC being able to shine a light on projects and actions that deserve a wider audience and acknowledgement. Fred is inspirational in his care for the blue iguana, and it is a pleasure to celebrate his success.”

Up until last year, the majority of our Blue Iguanas mated in early to mid May, and laid their eggs in mid to late June. The pattern shifted suddenly last year, with the majority of our iguanas mating and nesting a month earlier. Colleagues working in Little Cayman and Jamaica saw a similar shift in their iguana breeding times, too. Now here in Grand Cayman at least, last year’s pattern is repeating itself. Is this a long term shift, or will it switch back again at some time in the future? What determines the month Blue Iguanas start to breed, anyway? At this point, we simply don’t know.

Vega$ Eggs

Our eggs are coming both from our captive breeding facility, where the mates are carefully managed for optimum genetics, and also from free roaming released Blues living in the QE II Botanic Park. Our most exciting nest so far is from Vega$, a new addition to our captive breeding stock last year. This is the first year she has given us viable eggs, which we hope will add a new family line, to diversity the young that we will be releasing to the wild.

Zach and Alberto start a nest excavation

We have a dedicated and energetic volunteer team helping Blue Iguana Wardens John and Ricky monitor and excavate the nests. Local volunteer Alberto Estovanovich has been helping almost full time at the captive facility, for several months now. Team Blue international volunteers Carlos Uribe and Zach Freidell are also with us, and a third is due to arrive on 31st May.

When these eggs hatch, and as we gear up towards releasing iguanas into a new protected area in late 2010 or 2011, the captive facility is set to be holding more young Blue Iguanas than at any time in its history so far!