A STRETCH of beach-front property bordering Somerset Long Bay and a protected nature reserve is under threat from developers interested in transforming it for monetary gain.

Financial pressures are forcing the owner to sell the land, and interested buyers have already submitted development applications in principle to ascertain potential.

At risk are nearly three acres, with a rocky headland, cow pasture, pond and woodland, extending back to Cambridge Road.

"It would be an incalculable planning blunder and a huge loss to Bermuda's natural heritage and bio-diversity if this beautiful rural beachfront area adjacent to the public beach park was allowed to be developed in this way," said Dr. David Wingate, council member and co-chair of the Bermuda National Trust's Gardens and Nature Reserves Committee.

Spread over some 2.86 acres, the land borders two protected properties ? Somerset Long Bay, and a Bermuda Audubon Society nature reserve boasting a secluded pond, mangroves for a bird habitat and walking trails.

The area comes with an interesting developmental history, according to Dr. Wingate.

Its presence was first recorded on the Savage Map of 1898-99 as an extensive area of mangrove and marshland lying behind what amounted to a sandbar beach. On the map, the marshland is seen to extend to the eastern half of Daniel's Head Road, cross Cambridge Road at its present junction with Daniel's Head Road, and continue deep into Somerset.

"The whole area would have flooded with seawater periodically in winter storms and hurricanes," he explained. "This situation probably prevailed well into the 1930s or '40s when Government initiated a policy of filling in the marshes for mosquito control by using them as public dump sites.

"The last active dumping that I can recall was in the vicinity of the present public beach park in the late 1950s. By that time, all of the marshland had been filled in leaving a wasteland of bottles covered by heaps of rubble."

The former Government Conservation Officer said that during the 1960s and early '70s, there was an official push to acquire more beaches for public and tourist use. It was with that aim that Government purchased the central portion of Somerset Long Bay from the Astwood Estate.

"Later in the 1970s, the Bermuda Audubon Society acquired the rest of the filled marshland and beach adjacent west, for a nature reserve and restored it to a functioning wetland and pond through the use of a drag line and back-hoe.

"Meanwhile, a similar sized ? three-acre ? property adjacent to the east of the public beach park, was acquired by the current owner who was so impressed by the Audubon project that he decided to create a private nature reserve pond of his own in the late 1980s by similarly excavating and re-contouring the old fill areas," Dr. Wingate explained.

"A fortuitous feature of both of these pond restorations is that they lie within the Somerset freshwater lens and, despite their proximity to the beach, support an essentially freshwater marsh community which happens to be the most attractive to resident and migratory waterbirds.

"Both ponds were restored so as to leave small nesting islands for waterfowl. As the mangroves and other marsh vegetation gradually grew in, they were eventually colonised by five species of breeding waterfowl ? more breeding species than in any other marsh or pond on Bermuda.

"Their strategic location near the extreme northwestern tip of Bermuda, also makes them important first-landing sites for hosts of migratory birds and many remarkable sightings have been made on them ranging from Whistling swan to a species of Siberian flycatcher!"

The zoning laws under which the area for sale falls usually limit development on a property of four acres or less, to one house. However, in November 2002, the Development Applications Board approved in principle, a house and 22 commercial horse stables.

And on April 12 of this year, a second in-principle application was submitted which would see the development of 20 condominiums and a gazebo. The application was withdrawn, but any flurry of activity represents a serious concern for conservationists.

Said Dr. Wingate: "Sadly, the current owner now finds himself in a position of having to sell his reserve for financial reasons. The property has Rural Development zoning with open space/green space conservation zoning.

"This zoning would normally permit only one house on the property, but one of the potential buyers got planning approval for a house and 22 horse stables with partial filling of the pond. Another applied for 20 condominiums and partial filling of the pond despite the fact that there are no firm foundations above sea level in the area proposed for development and the additional fact that most of the property lies within a hurricane storm surge zone.

"Ideally, the conservation organisations ? the Trust or the Audubon Society ? can find a way to protect the land as a nature reserve for the public benefit."