For the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum Newsletter - 2003

By Lois Blumenthal

The Lower Valley Forest on Grand Cayman is one of the last remnants of the disappearing ancient Caribbean Ficus forests. It supports the threatened White-shouldered Bat (Phyllops falcatus), which is only found on Grand Cayman, Cuba and Haiti, as well as four other rare or endemic bat species and is important to birds and other wildlife.

Dr. Ted Fleming and young Mattie Troyer examine a rare White-shouldered Bat (Phyllops falcatus) caught in the Lower Valley forest.

The Cayman Islands are very isolated and not part of the Eastern island chain. Migrating birds have been finding Wild Figs (Ficus aurea) and other wild fruits here to sustain them for millennia. The loss of this forest would be a severe blow to them, as well as to indigenous birds.

Patricia E. Bradley, resident ornithologist and author of Birds of the Cayman Islands has documented 53 species of birds including 12 endemic races using this forest. She wrote, “The forest proved a major site of Cayman Islands avian diversity during field work undertaken on Grand Cayman as part of a Caribbean study on the molecular phylogeography of West Indian birds. The team, led by Professor Robert Ricklefs, comprised ornithologists from the Smithsonian Institution, Cornell University and Missouri University was assisted by Patricia E. Bradley… All the breeding species listed were mist-netted during the two-day study, as were 70% of the migrants. This old growth forest is a remnant of large areas of forest once found on Grand Cayman and its avian, botanical and faunal diversity identifies it as a site of special scientific and conservation interest that should be preserved.”

The native plant diversity within this forest is also significant. Mature native trees such as Ironwood (Chionanthus caymanensis), Pepper-Cinnamon (Canella winterana), Headache Bush (Capparis cynophallophora), Wild Jasmine (Tabernaemontana laurifolia), Spanish Elm (Cordia genascanthus), Candlewood (Amyris elemifera), and so many others flourish here.

The Lower Valley Forest is divided into two sections by a pasture. Over 300 acres (125 hectares) on the northern edge are separated into twenty private lots varying from 149 acres to small house lots of only .33 of an acre. The southern portion – about the same size but closer to the sea - is immediately threatened by a large housing development. This area is an important buffer zone. The salt-tolerant trees protect the more inland part of the forest from sea spray.

White-shouldered Bat - Phyllops falcatus - this bat was thought to be extinct in the Cayman Islands until it was rediscovered recently isolated in the Lower Valley Forest on Grand Cayman.

It is hoped that successful negotiation with the Cayman Islands Planning Department will result in the removal of some universally applied requirements for roadbeds and filling and that developers can be convinced of the value of leaving the dramatic native landscaping in place. This will mitigate the emergency, but it will still be necessary to purchase a substantial portion of this forest for conservation if the White-shouldered Bat is not to become extinct in the Cayman Islands and for this important migrating bird foraging ground and native bird habitat to remain intact.