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Press Release: National Trust for the Cayman Islands opposes changes proposed by National Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2024

National Trust for the Cayman Islands opposes changes proposed by National Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2024

As a voting member of the National Conservation Council, the National Trust for the Cayman Islands is alarmed to learn the nature and scale of the changes proposed by the National Conservation (Amendment) Bill published on 31 December 2024 without any consultation with Council members.

The National Conservation Act is the primary legislation protecting our natural and cultural heritage. The protection of the environment of the Cayman Islands has never been more important than in this era of climate change and rapid population growth, when access to our beaches, sea and green spaces is disappearing before our eyes.

The National Trust’s remit, enshrined in law, includes the provision of advice, information and assistance to government on matters that affect our natural and built heritage. The National Trust therefore considers it our duty to express our deep concern that these proposed amendments, if approved, would undermine the careful balance between economic, social and environmental interests that the National Conservation Act seeks to achieve.

By removing scientific expertise from the Council and stripping the Council of its authority to prevent actions that could damage critical habitats, the proposed amendments would have the effect of reducing the National Conservation Council to little more than an advisory board whose recommendations could be too easily ignored. Such a shift sets a dangerous precedent, enabling this and future administrations to prioritise discretionary actions over scientific expertise, thus weakening the integrity of Cayman’s conservation laws.

The Government has a constitutional obligation to protect the environment. The National Conservation Act, which was passed in 2013 after many years of thoughtful consideration and consultation, currently provides some guardrails for development. The danger of removing these guardrails, as the proposed amendments intend, is in allowing the short-term interests of the few to take precedence over the long-term interests of the many: the people of the Cayman Islands.

The National Trust is not in support of the Amendments as proposed in this current Bill. Understandably, regardless of the outcome of this Bill in the upcoming Parliament sitting, we remain concerned that amendments of this nature could be brought by future administrations, without their consulting with those qualified professionals and technocrats who possess the most relevant knowledge and expertise and who have direct responsibility for the environment, and also more broadly, with the general public whose future wellbeing and prosperity would be affected by the current or similar future version of such an Amending Bill.

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