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206 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 14, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2007 SPECIAL AWARD

Natural scientist Frederic James Burton’s decision not to pur-
sue a career in academia has proved to be a singular and

far-reaching blessing for the Cayman Islands. Mr. Burton is this
year’s Queen’s Birthday Honors recipient of the Member of the
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) award for
“services to the conservation of endangered species in the
Cayman Islands.”

Mr. Burton’s unflagging efforts, characterized by his dedi-
cation, devotion, diligence, innate modesty, and unassuming
approach, provide the backdrop for his contribution to conser-
vation in general and endangered species in particular. He also
has found time to write two books, bringing attention to native
vegetation, some of which is in imminent danger of vanishing
without protection. He also has coauthored a number of
research papers in natural history journals. However, he is best
known locally and internationally for his stellar work in ongo-
ing attempts to save from extinction Grand Cayman’s largest
land animal, the Blue Iguana (Cyclura lewisi).

He has been exceedingly effective and committed to con-
servation advocacy and education, fund-raising, and elevating
public awareness. He has secured international funds and vol-

unteers for ongoing initiatives to preserve the Islands’ natural
resources for present and future generations. He helped start
several of these initiatives aimed at protecting and cataloging
the flora and fauna on all three of the nation’s islands, as well as
mapping vulnerable tracts of land and identifying native vege-
tation.

“I felt very strongly that I wanted to make a difference in
the world in some shape or form rather than sit in an academic
ivory tower,” Mr. Burton recalled about his decision not to go
for a doctoral degree. After he obtained a master’s degree in nat-
ural sciences from Cambridge University, Mr. Burton, who was
born in the picturesque Lake District in England in 1957,
rejected Ph.D. prospects and took instead a position as Research
Assistant in Cayman’s Mosquito Research and Control Unit in
1979. Spending much of his early life in Kuwait, where his
father was employed, translated into his acquiring a strong inter-
est in reptiles and other fauna of the Arabian Desert.

S P E C I A L  A W A R D

Frederic James Burton, shown here releasing a captive-bred Grand Cayman Blue Iguana (Cyclura lewisi) in order to augment wild populations, is
this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honors recipient of the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) award for “services to the
conservation of endangered species in the Cayman Islands.”

Fred Burton Honored1

1 Fred Burton and the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme were fea-
tured in Iguana 10(2):53–55 (2003).

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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 14, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2007 207SPECIAL AWARD

In 12 years’ service with MRCU, he became Deputy
Director and sometimes single-handedly managed three roles as
research officer, deputy head, and Acting Director. “It was a very
difficult and stressful time,” he remembers. However, through
his work he learned first-hand of the rapid destruction of his
mangrove forest study sites, which succumbed to tourism and
residential development, especially along the West Bay corridor.

When the National Trust was established in 1988, he
began volunteering until he was seconded by government full-
time to the Trust in 1991. His important work in environmen-
tal conservation covering a number of areas began as a volun-
teer in 1990, and includes: (1) Surveying the land given to the
624-acre Salina Reserve in the eastern districts of Grand
Cayman and mapping its biodiversity; (2) Coordinating work
to start the QEII Botanic Park and being mainly responsible for
the development of the park until its official opening in 1996;
and (3) Spearheading conservation efforts to help save the crit-
ically endangered Grand Cayman Blue Iguana from the brink
of extinction. As a Trust staff member, his main achievements
include: (1) Starting the acquisition of the Mastic Reserve; (2)
A 10-year effort to fully protect the Booby Pond Nature
Reserve in Little Cayman; and (3) Acquisition of a block of
land to start the Cayman Brac Parrot Reserve to help conserva-
tion of this endangered species, which is one of two parrot sub-
species endemic to the Cayman Islands. “I am very proud to
have been a part of that,” Mr. Burton says. He also led a pub-
lic awareness campaign on the Central Mangrove Wetlands. “A
huge amount of work needs to be done there; we also need a
policy on that.”

Of the award, he takes it in stride with his characteristic
modesty, but hopes the recognition that it brings to environ-
mental protection will lead to a better future for Cayman. “I
hope it helps bring some attention to the fact that environmen-
tal issues are becoming important,” he comments.

“There are many others who like me are working way
beyond the point of duty and equally deserving of this kind of
recognition, especially my colleagues at the National Trust and
the Department of Environment. I hope that happens. For
instance, DOE has been working for years to modernize our
environmental legislation. If one thing happens this year, I do
hope it is the passage of the National Conservation Law,” he
adds. Currently, only about 6.5% of the entire Cayman Islands
land is preserved. “It is generally accepted that at least 10% of
unique habitats, and 20% or more of ecologically critical habi-
tats, should be protected in all countries. We have a ways to go,”
he notes.

Cayman is indeed distinct from many other Caribbean
islands in that much of its natural habitat is intact, albeit largely
in private ownership. This is especially the case with the dry
forests on all three islands, which manifest distinct characteris-
tics. “Dry forests are endangered worldwide, and the Caribbean
dry forests are in a dire state,” he observes. “It is in our national
interest to save those forests.”

On all three islands, and particularly on Grand Cayman,
ongoing and potential development threatens the status quo, he
says. It is against this backdrop that he hopes that the current

Development Plan review will be successful in designating spe-
cific areas as protected after the previous two attempts failed,
thereby futilely involving hours upon hours of involvement from
the community seeking better conservation.

Cayman’s plus factors include our “charismatic flagship
species,” our parrots and Blue Iguanas, which catch the eye of
tourists. “There is no question that Cayman’s natural environ-
ment and unique Caymanian species are huge capital assets that
underwrite our tourism marketing, both official DOT’s and the
private sector’s,” he comments. Environmental sustainability will
not be achieved “unless we are prepared to set aside areas to
underpin our tourism product and maintain our national iden-
tity — or the reasons why the Cayman Islands are recognized as
the Cayman Islands,” he posits.

One such success story is the Blue Iguana Recovery
Programme. Credit for the success lies directly at Mr. Burton’s
door, sometimes literally, such as when he had to play surrogate
parent to young hatchlings housed in adequate, airy cages in his
own backyard. Over a half-dozen organizations in the US and
UK have been directly involved in various aspects of the ongo-
ing iguana conservation program, primarily through his efforts.
The Programme has seen a remarkable level of volunteerism,
and local corporate financing has contributed as much as 50%
of the funding. A number of hitherto innovative steps for
Cayman such as radio-tagging and micro-chip implanting
became possible through Mr. Burton’s engagement of the inter-
national community.

He started the Blue Iguana captive breeding program in
1990 from a pair obtained from Florida to help boost the num-
bers of animals in the wild by releasing captive-reared iguanas
into designated areas. With international volunteers, he under-
took a census of the wild population that revealed a grim pic-
ture of a species teetering on the verge of extinction with a mere
10–25 animals clinging to life in 2002. Since then, through con-
trolled releases of two-year-old hatchlings at the Botanic Park
and the Salina Reserve, the Blue population has spurted to 250
following a recent release of two-year-old hatchlings. The day
the captive breeding program ceases will be a day of rejoicing for
all — and especially Mr. Burton.

His first book, in collaboration with Ms. Penny Clifford,
titled Wild Trees in the Cayman Islands, first published in 1997,
will be out in an expanded second edition with photographs in
July. His second book, titled Threatened Plants of the Cayman
Islands, is a red-list assessment, will also contain a number of
photographs, and is close to publication. The style displayed in
both the books is typical of his practicality and pragmatism.
“There is no use creating information if people cannot access it,”
he comments.

Mr. Burton has a lot of work ahead in analyzing the huge
body of information gathered over the last three years from
radio-tracking Blue Iguanas released in the Salina Reserve. Those
data will guide the next steps in the conservation program. This
is something to which he is looking forward with his customary
incisiveness in the coming months.

Pat Eubanks

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