Shrubland in the Salina Reserve

Originally deeded to the National Trust by the Cayman Islands Government, the Salina Reserve has always had a less-than-ideal northern boundary, because of a privately owned piece of land situated almost entirely inside the Reserve. It divided the dry shrubland in that area, which is key habitat for the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana.

This parcel has now been purchased by the Trust and has become an integral part of the Salina Reserve.

“The importance of this land goes beyond the direct conservation value of the 23 acres involved” says Fred Burton, Director of the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme. “The purchase has unlocked a previously blocked fragment of habitat, which together with the new parcel now almost doubles the area of shrubland available here for the Blue Iguanas to recolonize.”

The European Union grant to the Trust is part of a project “Management of Protected Areas to Support Sustainable Economies,” shared with the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the British Virgin Islands. In Grand Cayman it is being implemented jointly by the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme, the National Trust, and the Department of Environment. The grant includes some funds for land purchase for Blue Iguana habitat, in addition to development of nature tourism and education infrastructure and programmes in the new Colliers Wilderness Reserve, which is also becoming a key home to the Blue Iguanas.

The Head of Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Jamaica commented that the EU was pleased to be able to contribute to the preservation of the Blue Iguana, an interesting and threatened species, through the extension of its habitat. “Biodiversity is essential for the survival of mankind“, he said “ Each of us have to do what we can to ensure that species, such as the Blue Iguana, survive and are there for our children and grandchildren.  This is a practical example of the support that the EU gives and I would like to congratulate the Cayman Islands National Trust for their hard work that has brought this extension of the Salina Reserve.”

In a fortunate coincidence of timing, the landowners approached the Trust with a view to selling, near the time that the Trust took receipt of the first tranche of the EU grant. With support from the project’s Technical Assistant (based in TCI) and the EU Delegation in Kingston, Jamaica, the necessary procedures and approvals were completed in good time, and the purchase documents were signed on 14^th September, 2011

A young Blue Iguana free in the Colliers Wilderness Reserve

Fred Nathan and Jane planning the release routing

On 28^th July, Fred Burton and volunteer Christina Gee took the first batch of nineteen out, and managed to get them into their retreats despite a thundery late afternoon downpour. Mat Cottam then joined Fred on 17^th August, and again on 29^th August, to release another nineteen and eighteen respectively.

And the grand finale on 12^th September saw Fred and Mat joined by Department of Environment intern Nathan Dack and Blues volunteers Jane Hâkonsson and Colin Phillips, to release the last 51 in a tightly planned and executed operation.

When all was done, the restored wild population of Grand Cayman’s Blue Iguanas had soared from 540 to 650 – another big step towards our long term goal of 1,000.

Jane releases an iguana

Then Juanita suddenly left her normal territory. Days later we found her in a nearby soil patch, covering over a new nest! It’s quite likely some of the larger youngsters we released last year may have also nested, maybe just an egg apiece because they are still so small, but Juanita will probably have laid eight eggs or more.

Juanita guarding her nest site

Hopefully this year’s rains, which have broken now, came in time to keep her eggs hydrated. Our camp site has withstood some stormy weather and we’re getting ready for the second iguana release to the Colliers Wildness, which will probably happen in August. It’s a rhythm we are getting used to – as we release the group of two year olds to the wild, this year’s hatchlings will be emerging from the incubators, and our head-starting cages will be occupied almost as soon as they are vacated.

Daniel Hamilton

Daniel Hamilton was 21 years old. He was pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Wildlife at Purdue University, Indiana. He spoke of a lifelong fascination with reptiles, and how when first saw Blue Iguanas at an exhibit in the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, he knew he wanted to play some part in their rescue.

Daniel’s volunteer application was outstanding – he had done fieldwork with salamanders in state forests in Indiana, had learned techniques like radio tracking, tagging and navigation, and his enthusiasm sparkled in his communications as he prepared to come to Grand Cayman.

In his short time with us, Daniel launched himself wholeheartedly into the work of the Programme, first at the captive breeding facility in the QE II Botanic Park, then in the Salina Reserve inland from the Queen’s Highway, and finally in the new Reserve in Colliers, East End. There, he and two other international volunteers were preparing for this year’s release of Blue Iguanas, scheduled to take place in July.

The staff and current volunteers with the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme, and the Council and staff of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands are deeply shocked and saddened by Daniel’s unexpected passing, and extend their heart-felt sympathy and condolences to his family and friends. Thanks and recognition are also extended to the emergency services who did everything possible to save Daniel.

The community’s expressions of sympathy are sincerely appreciated. We invite anyone who wishes to send condolences to email birpvols@gmail.com or post on the Blue Iguana Recovery Program’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Iguana-Recovery-Programme/183865225017 , and the BIRP will arrange for these thoughts to reach Daniel’s family

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.”

This year, we plan to release most into the new Blue Iguana Reserve, and in preparation our Team Blue 2010 volunteers, led by Doug Bell, are roaming the new Reserve collecting habitat data from a series of pre-designated points. We don’t have a permanent access yet, so the team are walking in along property boundary lines and camping out there for two nights at a time. This saves time lost to getting in and out, which is a slow and difficult process!

The camp is a very temporary affair – just some tarpaulins to keep off the rain, some hammocks with mosquito net covers, a small gas burner to cook with, and a little hand pump to suck water up from fissures, which yield drinkable East End groundwater.

In the photo – volunteers Peter Pagoda (from Germany) and Matthew Perez (from USA) eat and rest after a long, hard and very hot day.

The data the survey team is collecting will hopefully allow us to identify the first area where we will release the iguanas.  That places a deadline on the operation – and though the terrain is savage, and going is hard, our Team Blue 2010 volunteers are up to the challenge!

From the Cabinet decision, to negotiating the lease agreement, to signing the lease, has taken time, and admittedly the process hasn’t been material for compelling news. But the lease has now been signed, and registered, and the National Trust for the Cayman Islands is the lessee of 190 acres of Crown land in the East Interior of Grand Cayman, for the next 99 years at least. It’s a hugely significant step forward, both for conservation of the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana, and for its habitat – Grand Cayman’s unique xerophytic shrubland environment.

The Blue Iguana Reserve is closely intertwined with a European Union grant to the National Trust, which (among other things) will pay to build a visitor centre in or next to the protected area. We already have a design for the visitor centre, thanks to Trevor Baxter (Rutkowsi Baxter Houghton) and with ongoing assistance from the structural engineers, Halcrow Yolles. What we don’t know yet is exactly where in the Blue Iguana Reserve this will be sited, and that in turn depends on which suitable access route can be secured.

In the meantime, there’s a lot we need to know about the new protected area, and the only way to find out is to spend time out there. Blue Iguana Recovery Programme staff and volunteers are beginning to trace the boundaries of the Reserve, and are recording the natural features and vegetation at a series of pre-set points scattered throughout the area. This fieldwork will be backed by expertise at the Department of Environment, where specialist Jeremy Olynik will be combining the field reports with high resolution aerial photography to create a detailed habitat map.

Will we find ancient surviving Blue Iguanas out there? Unlikely, but still possible! Will we find soil basins where iguanas could nest? Where will there be natural fresh water we can draw on, to cut the need for field staff to carry huge weights of water every day? What and where are the notable natural features that we should consider when planning nature trails?

We hope as we explore we will soon be able to define some optimal areas to release young captive-reared Blue Iguanas. The first release is scheduled for July-August this year.

Most of the Blue Iguana Reserve is potential Blue Iguana habitat in one way or another. The area is dominated by dry shrubland, and lots of it is growing on the sharpest cliff rock. Add in dense stands of spiny “Corato” (Cayman’s unique Agave), Maiden Plum, Manchineel and Lady Hair, and you could be forgiven for thinking the land has been designed to repel humans.

But walking through slowly and safely on a trail, perhaps in the late afternoon sunshine, the beauty of the landscape is undeniable. Thanks to the low vegetation there are long vistas across the landscape, set off by groups of tall, slender Thatch Palms. Closer at hand the terrain looks like an elaborate rock garden, with an astonishingly diverse array of unusual plants, many of them unique to the Cayman Islands and to this specific habitat.

Apart from a small fragment in the QE II Botanic Park, this specific type of environment was almost completely absent from our protected area system, until now.

We envisage this special place will be accessible to all, once we have completed the access, visitor centre and nature trails. And wandering around it all, will be the next generations of young Blue Iguanas. The new Blue Iguana Reserve gives us space to bring this once near-extinct mascot of Grand Cayman back to a population which can sustain itself indefinitely, and a place where we can commune with them and their wild ancestral home.

This article by Fred Burton originally appeared in the Cayman Islands Department of Environment’s on-line journal, “Flicker”.

The Little Blue Book

In the Cayman Islands and anywhere else in the world, you can read about and purchase the Little Blue Book at:

www.ircf.org/lbb

 … and in the Cayman Islands, you can also buy copies  at these stores, with more soon to come:

West Bay, and the West Bay Road area – Macabuca at the Cracked Conch; Ambassadors of the Environment, and the Blue Tip Golf Shop at the Ritz-Carlton; Captain Marvin’s Watersports; Red Sail Sports (Mariott, Westin Casuarina, Grand Cayman Beach Suites); Books & Books; The Book Nook.

George Town area – Cayman Islands National Museum; Artifacts; Blue Iguana Souvenir Outlet; Hobbies and Books; Cathy Church; National Trust for the Cayman Islands; Tortuga Rum Company; Vigoro Nursery; Pure Art; Books by the Bay; Hurley’s.

Eastern Districts – Pedro St James; Vigoro at Agricola; Boddentown Art Shop; Lighthouse Restaurant; QE II Botanic Park; Red Sail Sports (Wave, & Rum Point).

Little Cayman – National Trust visitor centre; Pirates Point Resort.

Cayman Brac – Heritage Designs

One surprise already was to see some very large Alsophis cantherigerus snakes in the release area – in previous years we have only seen small ones out there.  We scanned the big one shown here, worried that it may have just eaten an iguana – but we were glad not to detect any PIT tag that would have confirmed that.

Matt Goetz (Durrell Wildlie Conservation Trust) with a large Alsophis

Total number of survey walks completed – 162

Person-hours of active survey walking – 945

Total number of iguana sightings – 466

Individual iguanas identified in the survey area – 46

Pairs of boots trashed on the Salina rocks – 5

A huge thank you to the survey team – Doug Bell, Stacy Whitaker, Matt Goetz, Megan Rasmussen, Crystal Robertson, Joe Freeman and Carly Easby, who all joined me specifically to take on this task. Matt, Stacy and Joe have now headed home, Carly leaves tomorrow, Megan and Crystal leave on Sunday, while Doug stays on with us for some time now.

The team is holding up well despite six days per week stealthing across the Salina’s rockscape, which is a little like doing six hours of continuous squats and lunges a day.

Salina rocks are death to boots

We’ve had several boot disintegration problems,  plus plenty sore feet and some protesting knees, but our success in spotting iguanas seems to be better than ever, despite all that.

We’re amassing an impressive data set of sightings of 45 individual iguanas, ranging from a new 2009 wild hatchling to the elusive big boy “Blue-Yellow-Blue” who has taken a large territory in the core of the main release area, but has become so wild we rarely see him at all.