Seventeen years ago, an offer of a $1,000 reward – complete with a ‘wanted’ poster – was made to anyone who located a pretty blue flowering herb, known locally as Cayman sage, which was thought to be extinct.
This reward from the Darwin Initiative led in 2007 to the discovery of the plant at the side of the road of the Queens Highway, and efforts got under way to bring it back from the brink of extinction. Those efforts continue today.
Though the wild population of this critically endangered herb is thought to have died out, the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park has cultivated multiple generations of it.
Now, the National Conservation Council has launched a public consultation on a draft species conservation plan for the plant, which is a protected species in Cayman.
According to a statement from the council on Friday, the plan aims to promote the herb’s cultivation and disbursement throughout Grand Cayman exclusively to retain Cayman sage’s natural distribution as a plant unique to that one island.
“The objective of this Conservation Plan is to restore a self-sustaining population of Cayman Sage in the wild, and to ensure an abundant population in cultivation protects the genetic diversity of the species and serves as a reserve during the restoration phase and beyond,” the plan notes.
The strategy to make the plant abundant locally again involves propagating large numbers of it at the Botanic Park, and then allow the park to sell the herb to the public on Grand Cayman only. The public will also be encouraged to plant it in gardens and other habitats throughout the island.
The herb would not be allowed to be sold or planted outside of Grand Cayman.
Cayman sage was originally described in 1900 under a different name, and later identified as a unique species by botanist George R. Proctor in 1969.
The public consultation on the proposed conservation is open until 30 June. Comments can be made in writing and emailed to [email protected]; hand-delivered to the Department of Environment offices, at Environmental Centre, 580 North Sound Road, George Town; or mailed to PO Box 10202, Grand Cayman KY1-1002.
To view a copy of the proposed conservation plan, click here, or pick up a hard copy from the DoE offices.
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