Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Value of Mastic Trail assessed


Caymanian Compass
December 27, 2012

A visiting scientist from the United Kingdom has been evaluating the value of the Mastic Trail in Grand Cayman to determine exactly how much it means to the Cayman Islands.
Research scientist Michael MacDonald from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds spent three weeks in Grand Cayman in December assisting the National Trust for the Cayman Islands examine the Mastic Trail and its surrounding forest to see how valuable it is in terms of its carbon storage, water lens and tourism. 

“The idea behind what we are trying to do is look at conservation sites, for example, the Mastic Forest, to try to look at other things they provide in addition to conserving biodiversity – birds and plants,” Mr. MacDonald said. “The idea is to demonstrate the other things it provides, which we call ecosystem services.”  Read the whole story here.