The director of the Blue Iguana recovery program and the author of a Cayman bird-watching guide are among the members of the island’s first National Conservation Council.
The makeup of the council, which will be charged with overseeing and implementing the new law, was announced by Environment Minister Wayne Panton in the Legislative Assembly on Friday.
Mr. Panton also announced that the first two sections of the law, dealing with administrative issues and establishing the council, had come into force on Friday, following Cabinet approval earlier in the week.
The job of the council in the coming months will be to establish the framework for full implementation of the law, which provides protection to Cayman’s endemic species, mandates consideration of the environment in development and gives new powers of arrest to conservation officers.
The environment minister said, “We expect the preparatory work of the council to take a few months. Once it is complete, government will be in a position to commence the remainder of the law and bring it fully into effect. I anticipate this to be by the end of this calendar year.”
The council will be chaired by Christine Rose-Smyth, a former lawyer and volunteer with the National Trust who has done research work on Cayman’s orchid species. Other council members include Blue Iguana expert Fred Burton, author and bird spotter Patricia Bradley and Davey Ebanks, a former member of the Marine Conservation Board.
Former National Roads Authority managing director Brian Tomlinson, environment and sustainability consultant Lisa-Ann Hurlston McKenzie, McFarlane Connolly and Wallace Platts were also named as members.
The law mandates that senior civil servants from the departments of Environment, Planning and Agriculture are also on the council.
Mr. Panton said, “Commencing these two parts of the law has enabled the council to be formalized and will allow it to begin considering the specifics of how it will discharge its duties under the law.”
He said an immediate priority for the council would be to produce the drafting instructions for regulations, which will govern the Environmental Impact Assessment process required for major projects.
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