Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Biodiversity Program
encourages scientists to visit the islands for
their research and to assist in trust projects.
The Priority Species Program
identifies local wildlife in need of special
protection. These projects have included the Blue Iguana Conservation
Program. Volunteers also take a census every three years of the parrot
populations on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac to monitor this bird. Re-
search has also been conducted on the West Indian whistling duck. Other
projects include a bat conservation program and an endangered plant
program.
To learn more about these projects, check out the trust's Web site at
www.caymannationaltrust.org or write National Trust for the Cayman Is-
lands, PO Box 31116 SMB, Grand Cayman,
345-949-0121, fax 345-949-
7494; e-mail ntrust@candw.ky. While in George Town, stop by the offices
on Courts Road off Eastern Avenue.
NATIONAL TRUST HERITAGE PASSPORT
Recently the National Trust began a new program called
Heri-
tage One
, an attraction “passport.” The passport allows a 25%
discount on admission to four popular attractions: the Cayman Is-
lands National Museum, Cayman Turtle Farm, Pedro St. James
National Historic Site, and Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park.
Each time the passport is used, it is stamped. You'll also receive a
special coin as a souvenir from each attraction with its logo on one
side and the Heritage One logo on the other.
To purchase a Heritage One pass, visit one of the four attractions,
or check with your hotel concierge, car rental office, post office, or
the tourism board. The cost of the passport is CI $19.95 for adults
and CI $10.95 for children. There is no expiration date on the
card.
One of the largest projects of the National Trust is the Salina Reserve, a
650-acre nature reserve on the north coast. Although not open to the pub-
lic, the reserve is an important ecological project that combines wetlands
and woodlands and offers nesting sites for parrots, caves with bat roosts,
and several acres of habitat for the rare blue iguana.
Another major project is the conservation of the Central Mangrove Wet-
land, a long-term effort to preserve the wetland that flows into the North
Sound. Fundamental to many natural processes, the wetland filters the
ground waters and provides a flow of nutrients into the sound. Those nu-
trients are essential for the food chain upon which the marine life of the
North Sound thrive. About 1,500 acres of this area is currently protected
as an Environmental Zone under Marine Parks Law (see page 27 for a de-
scription of the current Marine Protection laws). The trust is now working
