🦎 National Conservation Council takes legal action against Central Planning Authority

The National Conservation Council (NCC) is preparing for a legal battle with the Central Planning Authority (CPA) over a planning permission granted for land clearing and a road cutting through an area in East End, home to the critically endangered blue iguana. The CPA did not refer the application by Bon Crepe Ltd to the NCC as required under the National Conservation Act (NCA), leading to the NCC filing a judicial review application to have the CPA quash the permission. The Department of Environment (DoE) has expressed serious concerns about the environmental harm already caused and the future risk to the blue iguanas.🌳

The road, which is more than two miles long, has divided the land between the Salina and Colliers reserves, affecting the blue iguanas that have been released into these wilderness areas as part of a project to save them from extinction. The DoE has secured an emergency interim directive from Cabinet designating this extremely sensitive land as critical habitat for the immediate protection of the blue iguanas. However, Bon Crepe is challenging this directive and is applying for it to be revoked. The CPA granted the after-the-fact permission based on its own view that there were no adverse effects, despite clear indications of environmental harm.🛣️

Despite the ongoing dispute between the two government entities, the DoE is urging the CPA not to contest the NCC's request for a judicial review and to instead quash the planning permission and take enforcement action. The land in question, alongside the Central Mangrove Wetlands, is some of the most important natural habitat in Grand Cayman. As human activity in the area increases, the threats that pushed the blue iguanas to extinction increase and will undermine efforts by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands to save them.🦎