Environment & Planning Laws must be in sync - DOE

Gina Ebanks-Petrie, Director of the Department of
Environment

Dr Brendan Godley, Gina Ebanks-Petrie and Dr Michael
Coyne

Tuesday,  February 28, 2006

With the launch a biodiversity programme comes expectations that environmental and planning laws could work jointly for the future development of the Cayman Islands. 

The Darwin Initiative, a UK Government grant scheme promoting biodiversity protection and sustainable use of the environment, was launched at the Government House last week.

Gina Ebanks-Petrie, Director of the Department of Environment (DOE) – the agency managing the initiative here – said legislation should be compatible for the success of the programme. 

“Environmental legislation and the development and planning legislation would have to be compatible with the goals that we set for the protection of biodiversity and the action plan,” she said. 

Mrs Ebanks-Petrie said the changes needed to the environment and planning laws are key factors in preserving the natural habitat. 

“We won’t be able to have free clearance of land without any kind of problem occurring from an enforcement perspective. 

“We really need to be sure that we’re not clearing a key habitat for some endemic species,” she said. 

The head of the DOE said a mapping system is underway to identify areas that are in need of protection. 

Here to assist the DOE are Dr Brendan Godley of the Exeter University in the UK, and Dr Michael Coyne, of Duke University also in the UK. 

Dr Brendan Godley, a lecturer in conservation and researcher in sea turtles, noted that Cayman copped a highly competitive programme. 

“This is a competitive bidding process and the project quality and worthiness of the work was deemed high enough for it to be successful,” he said. 

“That underlines how good a project we have and how important the biodiversity is here in the Cayman Islands,” he said. 

Dr Godley explained that habitat mapping and research programmes would run side by side in the coming months. 

“A number of research programmes will be developed as part of the project and supported, including the iguana and the sea turtles, the birds and the plants,” he said.

According to him, two animal and plant specialists will be here shortly to conduct workshops for the Darwin Initiative. 

Dr Coyne, a research scientist at its Nicholas School of Environment, said the DOE personnel would be trained on mapping the Island. 

“We’re going to convene a workshop and make sure the Department of Environment is up to speed on the mapping process,” he said.

He said it is critical to have a detailed survey of the environment since Hurricane Ivan devastated the Island in 2004.

“You can’t take preventative steps for mitigation with potential damage unless you know where things are,” Dr Coyne said. 

Mrs Petrie said for the success of the programme public participation is being sought. 

“We want people to understand how important protecting our biodiversity is and what it’s going to take for that diversity of life in the Cayman Islands to remain. 

“They have to engage in that process to help us implement the action plan. We can’t do it on our own we need the public,” she said. 

The Director of the DOE wants to see the same level of protection afforded to the earth as is currently in place for the country’s waters.

“In the marine environment we have protected areas where there are strict regulations but we haven’t addressed development impacts as they relate to the terrestrial environment. 

“Protected areas are one of the two tools that conservation biologists and environmentalists have in order to manage the problem of habitat loss,” she said.

Mrs Petrie added, “On the matter of invasive (brought in mostly by humans) species, we’re going to have to come up with some regulations on what people are allowed to bring into the Island.” 

paul@caymannetnews.com

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