CAYMAN ISLANDS 🇰🇾 : PROTECT THE 🌱CENTRAL MANGROVE WETLAND WHILE CAYMAN PLANS ITS FUTURE
The Issue
The Central Mangrove Wetland is part of Cayman’s natural heritage and an essential part of our future.
At approximately 8,655 acres, it is widely recognised as the ecological heart of Grand Cayman. It supports the North Sound, provides habitat and nursery grounds for wildlife and fisheries, helps manage water, stores carbon and strengthens our resilience to flooding and storms.
For years, Sustainable Cayman has called for the Central Mangrove Wetland to be considered and protected as one interconnected natural system.
Now is the time to act‼️.
Roads, subdivisions and infrastructure decisions are increasingly shaping the future of the wetland before Cayman has completed its new Development Plan.
Decisions made one parcel at a time can collectively determine the future of an entire landscape. Decisions made now can also set precedents for what follows.
Government has already recognised the need for a different approach. The National Planning Framework identifies applicable areas within the Central Mangrove Wetland for a Natural Resource Preservation Overlay.
The proposed overlay is intended to work alongside existing land ownership and zoning, using planning measures and incentives to help protect important natural resources.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING GOVERNMENT TO DO
The Central Mangrove Wetland should not be shaped one road, one subdivision and one parcel at a time while Cayman is still deciding how the area should be planned and protected.
We are asking Government to:
Plan Before We Lose The Choice
Put appropriate interim safeguards in place while the Development Plan, Area Plans, Natural Resource Preservation Overlay and East-West Arterial decisions are being completed. Major decisions made now should not determine the future of the wetland before the public planning process is finished.
Treat The Wetland As One Interconnected System
Assess roads and major development proposals together, including their cumulative effects on the wetland’s ecology, water system and the development pressure created by new road access.
Protect The Most Important Areas — Fairly
Develop a long-term protection strategy with landowners, using the Environmental Protection Fund to acquire priority conservation land where appropriate and planning incentives to direct development towards less sensitive areas.
The future of the Central Mangrove Wetland should not be determined by a series of individual decisions before the people of the Cayman Islands have had their say through the Development Plan process.
These decisions affect more than land and mangroves. They affect where we build housing, how we move around our island, our exposure to flooding, the cost of future infrastructure and the kind of Cayman we leave to the next generation.
🎥 Watch our short video to find out more.
Your voice matters. Add your name and ask Government to act now by putting the National Planning Framework into practice and protecting the Central Mangrove Wetland while the Development Plan is completed.
Plan first. Let Cayman have its say. Protect what Protects Us.
6
The Issue
The Central Mangrove Wetland is part of Cayman’s natural heritage and an essential part of our future.
At approximately 8,655 acres, it is widely recognised as the ecological heart of Grand Cayman. It supports the North Sound, provides habitat and nursery grounds for wildlife and fisheries, helps manage water, stores carbon and strengthens our resilience to flooding and storms.
For years, Sustainable Cayman has called for the Central Mangrove Wetland to be considered and protected as one interconnected natural system.
Now is the time to act‼️.
Roads, subdivisions and infrastructure decisions are increasingly shaping the future of the wetland before Cayman has completed its new Development Plan.
Decisions made one parcel at a time can collectively determine the future of an entire landscape. Decisions made now can also set precedents for what follows.
Government has already recognised the need for a different approach. The National Planning Framework identifies applicable areas within the Central Mangrove Wetland for a Natural Resource Preservation Overlay.
The proposed overlay is intended to work alongside existing land ownership and zoning, using planning measures and incentives to help protect important natural resources.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING GOVERNMENT TO DO
The Central Mangrove Wetland should not be shaped one road, one subdivision and one parcel at a time while Cayman is still deciding how the area should be planned and protected.
We are asking Government to:
Plan Before We Lose The Choice
Put appropriate interim safeguards in place while the Development Plan, Area Plans, Natural Resource Preservation Overlay and East-West Arterial decisions are being completed. Major decisions made now should not determine the future of the wetland before the public planning process is finished.
Treat The Wetland As One Interconnected System
Assess roads and major development proposals together, including their cumulative effects on the wetland’s ecology, water system and the development pressure created by new road access.
Protect The Most Important Areas — Fairly
Develop a long-term protection strategy with landowners, using the Environmental Protection Fund to acquire priority conservation land where appropriate and planning incentives to direct development towards less sensitive areas.
The future of the Central Mangrove Wetland should not be determined by a series of individual decisions before the people of the Cayman Islands have had their say through the Development Plan process.
These decisions affect more than land and mangroves. They affect where we build housing, how we move around our island, our exposure to flooding, the cost of future infrastructure and the kind of Cayman we leave to the next generation.
🎥 Watch our short video to find out more.
Your voice matters. Add your name and ask Government to act now by putting the National Planning Framework into practice and protecting the Central Mangrove Wetland while the Development Plan is completed.
Plan first. Let Cayman have its say. Protect what Protects Us.
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on 20 September 2026