| International
Conventions
Government Departments/Services which benefit: Ministry of Environment
Cost savings to the Cayman Islands Government resulting from environmental
initiatives undertaken by the National Trust.
Obligations under international
conventions.
The Cayman Islands is party to a number of international
environmental conventions, notably the Convention on Biological Diversity
(the "Rio
Convention" or CBD), and the Ramsar Convention. It is expected
that the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife protocol to the Cartagena
Convention (the "SPAW Protocol") will also shortly be extended
to the Cayman Islands by joint agreement with the UK Government.
These
international conventions place obligations on the Cayman Islands
Government, which are becoming increasing highlighted as a result of
the evolving relationship between Britain and its Overseas Territories.
Local government responsibility for honouring international agreements
of this kind is also referenced in the newly signed Environmental
Charter.
An analysis of the activities of the Cayman Islands Government
and the National Trust, relevant to the CBD, Ramsar and SPAW agreements,
shows the Trust is playing a very substantial role, which otherwise
would fall on Government at a considerably greater cost.
Protected area system
CBD, Ramsar and SPAW all call on parties
to establish and maintain a system of protected areas, in order to
safeguard each country's
native biodiversity. The Department of Environment is fulfilling
this mandate with respect to the marine environment, but due in part
to the high cost and political difficulty of protecting privately
owned land, government has generally restricted its terrestrial protected
area initiatives to Crown land, in most cases in partnership with
the Trust. Meanwhile the Trust has over recent years raised approximately
$1million from private donors, and spent it on voluntary land purchase
at prevailing market values, to establish significant protected areas
on all three islands. This has been supplemented by significant private
land donations, which are available to the Trust in a way that can
not be the case for Government.
The Trust also continues to manage
these protected areas. Government has therefore been spared both the
expense of land purchase, and the
ongoing cost of management, for the majority of Cayman's terrestrial
protected area system to date. While this is not yet sufficient to
achieve the goals implicit in the international conventions, it is
fair to say that the trust has been responsible for the majority of
progress in this area over the last decade.
Biodiversity monitoring
and assessment
Assessing and monitoring native biodiversity is another
obligation under CBD and SPAW. Again, for the terrestrial environment
the Trust
has been taking the lead in this area, at minimal cost to Government
beyond the general annual institutional support the Trust has been
receiving.
The Trust operates the Cayman Islands' only Herbarium,
internationally registered under the code CAYM and available internationally
in digital
form on line, and also maintains an insectarium which includes historic
and recent collections. These biodiversity reference collections underpin
other biodiversity work, most notably an extensive forest biodiversity
survey and mapping project, which is already generating products valuable
to the Department of Environment, Department of Planning, and Lands & Survey's
LIS.
Biodiversity conservation
A key obligation under the environmental
conventions, and we would suggest also a key obligation to the people
of the Cayman Islands,
is to take steps to preserve species unique and/or characteristic
of Cayman's natural environment. Using international grant
funds and accessing local private sector support rather than local
government funds, the Trust has made great strides in preservation
of key endangered species. These include the Grand
Cayman Blue Iguana,
the Cayman Brac Parrot, Little
Cayman's Red-footed Boobies, the bats of the Cayman Islands, and
various endangered plants.
By
leveraging in kind contributions both locally and overseas, from
modest grant funding, the Trust has spent in the range of $10,000
to
$60,000 per annum on these projects, at a real worth of at least
double that.
Tourism Benefits - Present and Future
The work of
the Trust supports tourism in several ways. At a time when the tourism
industry is
struggling to maintain its economic contribution
to our economy, these contributions by the Trust should be valued accordingly.
Dealing with inquiries
The Trust is a significant source of information
to many tourists, so improving the quality of their stay and increasing
the chances
of return visits. Many of the Trust's overseas members are
long-term repeat visitors, and they spread by word of mouth the
positive news of successful environmental activities of the Trust,
as well
as often less positive personal assessments of the general development
trend of the islands.
Tourists routinely visit the Trust's offices,
and we are always willing to share information in a way that helps
these visitors feel
more connected to our islands. This is in effect a free PR service
we carry out which on balance benefits the Department of Tourism
and the tourism industry at large.
Providing activities
The Trust offers infrastructure and some activities
available to tourists. These include the Mastic
Trail, the Governor
Gore Bird Sanctuary,
Heritage Beach, the visitor's centre at the Booby
Pond Nature Reserve, and a self-guided trail through the Brac
Parrot Reserve (in addition to a number of historic sites addressed elsewhere in
this report). These add significant diversity to the islands' tourism
product, and so are helping to retain the level of visits we are
managing to achieve. While it is hard to place a dollar value on
this, the level of interest and enthusiasm expressed by those who
visit these sites, suggests the contribution is significant.
Island
image and DOT advertising
As Grand Cayman becomes increasingly urbanized,
there is an increasing mismatch between reality and the image of the
island projected in
our tourism advertising, which often focuses on peace, tranquility,
and nature. Protected natural areas, and activities in wild places
(see above) are essential if this image is going to be fulfilled
in the minds and experiences of our visitors. The Trust is helping
provide that experience.
Support to DOT
The Department of Tourism frequently calls on the Trust
for information about native species and environments, and photographs,
for publicity
and advertising purposes. We are similarly called on to guide visiting
journalists and television crews interested in terrestrial wildlife
and environmental features. The Trust does not charge for these services.
Department of Education and schools support
Teaching resources
linked to National Curriculum
The government staff developing the
new National Curriculum are very appropriately keen to maximize the
locally relevant content of classes
taught in our schools. In both sciences and social studies areas,
the Trust's information resources on our natural environment
has proved valuable, and the Trust has been able to build on this
information to provide resources for teachers specifically tailored
to the National Curriculum. Notable are the "National
Symbols" and "Mangroves" education
packs, which together with the Department of Environment's "Coral
Reefs" resource now makes up a substantial resource for local
teachers, available to Government at cost.
Class visits and field
trips
In addition to providing teaching resources, Trust staff are
frequently invited to visit schools to teach specific subjects to individual
classes. We do not charge for this.
Junior membership
Through the Trust's junior membership programme,
we are able to continue support in education on environmental matters
beyond what
we can achieve through class visits.
Conclusion:
Reviewing the detail above, it
is clear that on environmental initiatives alone the Trust pays back
to Government in value-added services,
more than the amount contributed annually from government funds. |
Bats 
