Responsible Green Travel to Cayman Islands
Sustainable eco-tourism in Cayman Islands
The National Trust for the Cayman Islands is a not-for-profit NGO working to preserve the history and biodiversity of the Cayman Islands. Through education and conservation, they work to protect environmentally sensitive and historically significant sites across all three Cayman Islands. The National Trust owns 12 historic sites and protects 9 Nature Reserves totalling 3300 acres of dry forest and mangrove wetlands. The National Trust offers Environmental, Historic and Educational programs via their Nature Trail, Historic House and Botanical/Safari.
- Grand Cayman Mastic Reserve
- A guided tour of the 2 mile (4km) long Mastic Trail takes 2 – 3 hours through old growth dry forest, black mangrove wetland, stands of Royal Palms and Silver Thatch Palms and abandoned agricultural land where you’ll likely encounter flowers, birds, butterflies, lizards, frogs and large hermit crabs
- Mission House historic site in Bodden Town (Grand Cayman)
- A guided tour through a traditional 1700 Caymanian two-story home
- Paradise Discovered Tour – Grand Cayman
- A guided tour of George Town, the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park and the historic Mission House that will take 3 – 4 hours
As of 2010 nine Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures were installed at three sites on Grand Cayman and were part of the Cayman Islands’ Department of Environment’s (DoE) reef monitoring program – This information will allow the DoE to better understand the full gamut of species living on the reefs.
To minimize the islands’ effects on climate change, the National Trust has also partnered with the GreenTech Group, establishing the Island Offsets program. They provide local businesses ways to reduce their carbon footprint and/or to compensate for their environmental impact by supporting efforts to increase renewable energy or prevent the deforestation of important ecosystems.
Another initiative of the National Trust is the Cayman Sea Sense project – A sustainable seafood education program to help restaurants (and customers) to make informed and reduce the number of non-sustainable seafood items on their menus.
In terms of Accommodations, Grand Cayman offers the following “environmentally friendly” options:
- Their green operations include: Solid waste reduction, recycling and composting; Rainwater harvesting; Drought tolerant landscaping; Container re-use; and use Green certified cleaning products.
- Their facilities include: Water saving toilets and faucets; Solar reflective roofs and insulated windows; Energy efficient lighting and electronics
- They sourcing local, organic and fair trade products when available; manage programs to Minimize water and energy consumption and they also lead Beach Clean Ups.
- Green Globe Certified
Cobalt Coast Resort – TBC
Energy Sustainability – Electrical Power Production in Cayman Islands
The government of the Cayman Islands recognize that “…as a small Island nation that is extremely vulnerable to the impact of climate change it is important that we do our part, and in doing so we, as a country and individually, can also benefit economically from being less reliant on fossil fuels”. They also know that they need “to contribute to the global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the use of environmentally friendlier sources of energy”.
Events which contributed towards the Cayman Islands’ sustainable energy development include:
- The Cayman Energy Summit in June 2015
- The signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change in December 2015 which set global targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases and emissions
- The decline in the cost of alternative energy technologies such as solar power and wind power
- The decrease in the cost of storage capacity (batteries) for electric energy
The Cayman Islands’ National Energy Policy 2017-2037 focusses on renewable energy, conservation methods and the promotion of efficient energy. Their vision involves “Enhancing and embracing a sustainable lifestyle through responsible and innovative energy supply and consumption”. The Policy targets 70% renewable energy in their energy mix by 2037, while the contribution of fossil fuel to primary energy demand will decrease to 39% in the same timeframe.
As the islands receive a considerable amount of year-round sun, it is an ideal place to harvest solar energy. The Bodden Town Solar Farm, on the south side of Grand Cayman, is the first solar farm on the islands, operating since the summer of 2017. The farm produces 5 megawatts of Cayman’s 100-megawatt requirement.
2017 plans for renewable energy production also include a solar farm on the east end of Grand Cayman to support hospital needs, along with a floating power plant off Grand Cayman’s north shore.
The Cayman Island government is also working to erect wind farms in the near future, once it overcomes potential interference concerns with their ‘early warning weather radar’ system.
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