Mastic Reserve lies at the eastern end of the North Side of Grand Cayman, one of the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

, a

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

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 Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

s (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 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 cit ...

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 natur ...

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 Black mangrove may refer to the plants: * ''Aegiceras corniculatum'' (Primulaceae) - south-east Asia and Australasia * ''Avicennia germinans'' (Acanthaceae) - tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, on both the Atlantic and Pacific coast ...

forest.

Birds

The IBA was identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because it supports significant populations of white-crowned pigeons, Cuban amazons,

Caribbean elaenia The Caribbean elaenia (''Elaenia martinica'') is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae found in the West Indies and parts of Central America. Its natural habitats are tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest, subtropical or tropical moi ...

s, thick-billed vireos, Yucatan vireos and vitelline warblers. Other birds found in the reserve include

West Indian woodpecker The West Indian woodpecker (''Melanerpes superciliaris'') is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Cuba. Taxonomy and systematics The West Indian woodpecke ...

s and

Caribbean dove The Caribbean dove (''Leptotila jamaicensis'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in Belize, the Cayman Islands, Colombia ( San Andrés island), Honduras (Bay Islands), Jamaica, and Mexico (Yucatán Peninsula). It has ...

References

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