Mastic Reserve lies at the eastern end of the North Side of

Grand Cayman Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territory's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles (1 ...

, one of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. It, with the associated Mastic Trail, is managed by the

National Trust for the Cayman Islands The National Trust for the Cayman Islands is the national trust serving the Cayman Islands. Its purposes are to preserve sites of artistic and architectural interest in the islands and to provide protection for local natural resources and wildlife. ...

and is one of the territory's Important Bird Areas (IBAs). It is named after the yellow mastic and black mastic trees which occur in the reserve.

Description

Mastic Reserve is an 834 ha tract of mainly forested land. It is bounded on the south and west by the Central Mangrove Wetland, and on the north by farmland. It encompasses the largest tract of contiguous native

dry forest Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to **Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medical) * ...

in the Cayman Islands, as well as the highest part of the low-lying island, with an elevation of 18 m. It also includes stands of

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

and silver thatch palms as well as abandoned agricultural land, now

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

Mastic Trail

The Mastic Trail is based on a traditional footpath that had fallen into disuse. In 1994 and 1995 it was restored and reopened as a 4 km walking track that passes through the reserve, traversing the central part of Grand Cayman from south to north. The southern part includes a 170 m hand-built rock causeway, known as the “Mastic Bridge”, through black mangrove forest.

Birds

The IBA was identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of

white-crowned pigeon The white-crowned pigeon (''Patagioenas leucocephala'') is a fruit and seed-eating species of bird in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. It is found primarily in the Caribbean. John James Audubon painted these pigeons, including the waterco ...

s, Cuban amazons, Caribbean elaenias,

thick-billed vireo The thick-billed vireo (''Vireo crassirostris'') is a small songbird. It breeds in the West Indies in the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, Tortuga Island in Haiti and on cays off the coast of Cuba. It occasionally can be found ...

Yucatan vireo The Yucatan vireo (''Vireo magister'') is a species of bird in the family Vireonidae. Closely related to the red-eyed vireo, its plumage a duller overall. It measures . It has a stout, hooked bill that is gray, paler at the base. A broad white ...

s and

vitelline warbler The vitelline warbler (''Setophaga vitellina'') is a songbird species in the New World warbler family (Parulidae). It is found in the Cayman Islands and on the Swan Islands in Honduras. Taxonomy This species is part of the large New World warbl ...

s. Other birds found in the reserve include West Indian woodpeckers and Caribbean doves.

References

Important Bird Areas of the Cayman Islands Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests Hiking trails in the Caribbean Grand Cayman {{Caymans-geo-stub