An insurance company has donated $28,000 to a zoological charity’s education programme.

Staff at Hamilton Re also took part in a corporate day at Trunk Island – a “living classroom” run by the Bermuda Zoological Society.

Jamie Bacon, the BZS education officer, said: “The Trunk Island programme allows students to see Bermuda in a way that they haven’t seen it before.

“The goal of the BZS is to have every upper primary and middle school student come to the island for an educational experience. We want to give every child a chance to enjoy and learn about this incredible place and hopefully develop a keen interest in our natural environment.

“Our hope is that those students who go on to pursue related fields eventually come back to Bermuda and assist with conservation and research that is valuable to the community.”

Funding enables BZS educators to provide environmental education for thousands of children annually, including formal science education classes, marine and terrestrial field trips, and teacher-development workshops.

The Hamilton Re team helped build the Trunk Island nursery, which involved spreading mulch to keep the weeds to a minimum, building rock walls to create terraces to grow larger plants, and repotting a variety of endemic plant species – including red mangroves, olivewoods, Jamaican dogwoods and bay beans.

Megan Thomas, the chief executive officer of Hamilton Re: said: “We applaud the significant efforts made by BZS to ensure Bermuda’s students are afforded the opportunity to engage with nature to experience the wonders of our fragile environment and understand their role in Bermuda’s ecological future.

“In addition to working extremely hard all afternoon, our team was fortunate to get a tour of Trunk Island to take in its natural beauty and realise the importance of our monetary and hands-on contributions.”

Colin Brown, the president of BZS, added: “We are delighted that Hamilton has chosen to support the BZS in our ongoing Stempel Foundation Schools Programme.

“Each year, more than 8,000 students attend the wide selection of free science and conservation-based classes that are only possible through donations from our BZS sponsors.

“We are also thankful for the team’s participation in a corporate day of giving on Trunk Island. The restoration of our living classroom is ongoing and will take a number of years to complete and Hamilton’s help is greatly appreciated.”

For more information about BZS, click here.