Three areas originally protected under the Animals Law (1976) are now Protected Areas under the National Conservation Law 2013.
These are all ponds with associated buffer vegetation, important to resident and migratory waterbirds.
MEAGRE BAY POND
Located near Bodden Town along the south coast of Grand Cayman, Meagre Bay is a Protected Area. The limits of the protected area are generally defined by a line measured 300 feet inland from the high water mark of the pond.
COLLIERS BAY POND
Located north of East End in Grand Cayman, Colliers Bay Pond is a Protected Area. The limits of the protected area are generally defined by a line measured 300 feet inland from the high water mark of the pond.
BOOBY POND
Located a short walk eastward of Little Cayman’s airstrip, the Booby Pond is a Protected Area.
In addition to being a Protected Area, the Booby Pond is the Cayman Island’s only Ramsar site – a wetland of international importance. Owned and managed by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, the Booby Pond is a unique habitat for breeding seabirds, with large nesting colonies of Red-footed Boobies Sula sula and Magnificent Frigatebirds Fregata magnificens. Unlike other Protected Areas, the Booby Pond is owned and managed by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands.
The mangroves fringing the Marine Parks Environmental Zone in eastern North Sound are also a Protected Area under the National Conservation Law.
New Protected Areas
The National Conservation Law provides for new protected areas and expansion to existing protected areas, through voluntary purchase of land or through Conservation Agreements with landowners. Nominations of lands to be protected can be submitted to the National Conservation Council annually, and any purchases that are agreed are paid for using the Environmental Protection Fund. This process began for the first time in 2016.