(CNS): These islands are home to unique flora and fauna that many people are unaware of but are constantly under threat. Because of this, Sustainable Cayman has launched Biodiversity Cayman: Celebrating Our Islands’ Unique Natural Heritage, a public education initiative helping people learn more about the plants, animals and wild places found only in the Cayman Islands.
Biodiversity is the foundational life-support system that makes human survival and well-being possible, but in the conflict between development and conservation, development almost always wins, and the habitat needed to preserve Cayman’s unique species disappears under concrete and tarmac.
Species under threat include the Cayman ghost orchid (Dendrophylax fawcettii) and Cayman ironwood (Chionanthus caymanensis) to the Grand Cayman bullfinch (Melopyrrha taylori) and the Cayman dwarf boa (Tropidophis caymanensis).
Sustainable Cayman, a non-profit group that promotes environmental sustainability and conservation, said in a release that through Biodiversity Cayman, it is inviting residents to get to know these neighbours, and the old-growth woodland and wetland they depend on, before they are lost.
“Lasting protection for Cayman’s wild places depends on something no law can supply on its own: a community that knows what it has and chooses to protect it,” said Melanie Carmichael, a founding member of the group. “Biodiversity Cayman exists to help every resident meet the species and places that make these islands unlike anywhere else on Earth.
The initiative reflects extensive consultation with key local stakeholders, and aligns with the UK Overseas Territories Biodiversity Strategy (2025), which emphasises community engagement, shared values and evidence-informed conservation. Later this year, the initiative will open the Cayman Environmental Survey 2026, gathering residents’ views to inform a Cayman Biodiversity Charter.
The initiative was launched at an event hosted at the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) and is supported by the UK Government’s Darwin Plus Local programme, bringing endemic-species-focused biodiversity education into classrooms and communities across all three islands.
“UCCI was pleased to partner with Sustainable Cayman to launch Biodiversity Cayman on our campus and to give our students and wider university community an opportunity to engage with the initiative. Understanding Cayman’s unique natural environment is important, and we were pleased to provide a space for that conversation and engagement,” a UCCI spokesperson said in the release.
The Biodiversity Cayman team brings together a broad range of local knowledge, professional qualifications and practical experience, Sustainable said.
Education and Outreach Officers Danielle Seales and Alyssa Ebanks bring experience across environmental research, conservation, education, community engagement and project delivery, supported by specialist input from local and international partners.
The public can learn more here, and follow on social media at @biodiversitycayman on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.