This website is deeply indebted to Ann Stafford of CaymANNature for inspiration and all butterfly & moth identifications and data. Currently, it is updated regularly and lovingly tended by Lois Blumenthal on behalf of the wild animals of the Cayman Islands. The site is donated and maintained by Reid A. Weske of California WebWise.
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Lois Blumenthal |
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Lois Blumenthal initiated the National Trust Bat Conservation Programme for the Cayman Islands in 1992. It is the most successful in the Caribbean and is internationally acclaimed as a prototype for tropical countries worldwide. She is the Caribbean Coordinator for Bat Conservation International and founded a listserv that links bat conservationists and researchers throughout the region. Details of her program, including sample press releases and educational resources are available free through this website, which also features descriptions and photos of some of the Cayman Islands' distinctive flora and fauna. This work is not complete (and may never be!) - new photos are added as they become available.She is a Lifetime Member of the National Trust, has served on the Trust Council since 1994 and currently serves on the Executive Committee as Secretary. |
On behalf of the National Trust, she established the Wildlife Rescue Centre and served as manager until 2007. She volunteered in the National Trust Blue Iguana Recovery Programme (BIRP) since 1993 where she initiated and coordinated the fresh fruit and vegetable project resulting in the first successful hatchings in two years.
Ms. Blumenthal has written numerous pamphlets, brochures, magazine and newspaper articles about conservation for both local and international publications. Materials written for local schools include The National Symbols Study Guide and The Coral Reef Colouring Book. She wrote the Mastic Trail Guide; and is co-author of Landscaping with Cayman Islands Native Plants for Butterflies & Wildlife.
With local and international photographers, she developed an educational slide show for schools (K through University), available free on this website. She speaks in classrooms and leads nature walks for students, including youth at risk. She has been a featured speaker for Rotary Club, Lions Club and other service clubs and for the National Trust's "Know Your Islands" Programme.
She is an avid naturalist and an advocate for the conservation of nature through cooperative means. As past president of the Garden Club of Grand Cayman, she spear-headed beautification projects including Sea-Farer's Hall and the Mission House as well as assisting schools, churches, nurseries and gardeners to landscape with Cayman Islands native plants. She believes that a closer connection to the natural world is highly beneficial and creates a more positive outlook in young people and adults and she feels strongly that the community as a whole benefits socially and economically from the preservation of unique native plants, wildlife and ecosystems.
She has been a regular visitor to the Cayman Islands since 1975 and in 1990 moved there permanently with her family.
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