Students take environment seriously

Pastor Al Ebanks and Carla Reid from the National
Trust look at the rare Trichilia Havanensis.

John Gray Recycler’s Kimone Chambers,
Grace-Ann White, Keelia Scott, Athena Miralda,
Cheryl-Ann Bryan, Patrianna Ebanks, and
Thresia McLean water plants at the Agape Urban Park
in George Town.

Tuesday,  July 5, 2005

With 2000 visitors a month and links to major environmental websites www.johngrayrecyclers.org  a local environmental youth club can be justifiably proud.

The club has been active this year despite Hurricane Ivan, supporting projects in the Cayman Islands and abroad.

“Our students have kept their focus and have continued working on projects, including a new Seacology project in Micronesia,” said the JGR’s Coordinator Christine Whitehead.

“At the moment we are raising money from family members and friends because we know that things are very hard in Cayman since Ivan. We have recently sent US$500 towards our Micronesia project and have another US$3,000 to raise.”

For the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) World Environment Day held 5 June, JGR promoted the theme Green Cities – Plan for the Planet at the Agape Park. Students have actively tended the park’s endemic plants, many of which were damaged during Ivan and they were surprised to find samples of two rare plants – Snake Wood (Colubrina Aborescens) and Trichilia Havanensis. After some research they found that Snake Wood is now an endangered species in Florida. They are now busy identifying the trees in the park, helped by Carla Reid of the Cayman Islands National Trust.

Shortly after World Environment Day, JGR were delighted to receive a thank-you message on their website from Ms Guilbaud-Cox, who heads the Outreach and Special Events Division of Communications and Public Information division of UNEP in Nairobi, Kenya. She wrote: “We at the UNEP thank John Gray Recyclers for commemorating World Environment Day (WED) in such a significant way. We take this opportunity to congratulate you for the excellent work you are doing to protect the environment in your country.”

JGR members Kimone Chambers, Keelia Scott, and GraceAnn White said: “We were very honoured to receive such an encouraging comment from Ms Guilbaud-Cox in our Guest Book, and we are now even more determined to help protect our local environment, as well as working overseas to help others preserve theirs.”

Mrs. Whitehead said that JGR celebrated World Ocean Day, on 8 June 2005 by creating a page on the website that brings the public’s attention to the importance of Global Marine Parks and preservation of the world’s coral reefs. “World Ocean Day was created in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It gives us an opportunity each year to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea,” she said.

After visiting the JGR website, Louisa Wood from the University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Centre in Vancouver, Canada, contacted the club to find out more about the Cayman Islands’ marine parks and to gather information for the Sea Around Us Project and the Global Marine Protected Areas (MPA) database that she is working on for her PhD.

With the club’s help Ms. Wood has been in touch with the Cayman’s Department of Environment to update their information on the Islands. The JGR club was also able to visit the MPA Global database to find out valuable information about global marine protected areas and in turn, to make it available to their website visitors. ”We are also busy collecting plastic six pack holders to recycle through Bodden Beverages, as a means of helping to protect our turtles,” Mrs. Whitehead said.

Visit the club’s website at www.johngrayrecyclers.org

Rare tree discovered

Two rare trees have been discovered at the Agape Urban Park: Trichilia Havensis and Snake Wood – Colubrina Arborescens. Trichilia Havensis is one of Cayman’s rarest trees, which only flowers when under stress. John Gray Recyclers, Pastor Al Ebanks and Carla Reid from the National Trust were surprised to find the Trichilia flowering – with just one flower. Native to Cuba and Jamaica this tree is now nearly extinct from Grand Cayman and cannot be found in Cayman Brac or Little Cayman. Snake Wood – Colubrina Arborescens is a very rare tree in the Cayman Islands with only a few scattered individuals on Grand Cayman and is not found on the Sister Islands. Research conducted by the students found that this tree is also an endangered species in Florida, USA.

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