The Bermuda National Trust will work on projects at two nature reserves and strive to open a new reserve this year, the organisation’s executive director said.

Karen Border said the boardwalk at Paget Marsh, which has been closed since 2019, will reopen in February, and signage in the reserve will be replaced during the first quarter of the year.

Endemic plants, such as the Bermuda Cedar and St Andrew’s Cross, as well several species of woodland birds are found within Paget Marsh, which is the least disturbed of the island’s original peat swamps.

“We look forward to welcoming school groups back in the reserve to learn about this important habitat and its flora and fauna,” Ms Border added.

BNT is also repairing a fence at a farm next to Spittal Pond in Smith’s and building a berm between the pond and the farm.

The organisation hopes this berm will protect the pond from pollutants and run-off from the farm, as well as improve “the condition and protection of the natural environment” around the preserve.

Ms Border said that the Buy Back Bermudacampaign, co-managed by BNT and the Bermuda Audubon Society, is more than a third of the way towards the $250,000 goal to transform Alton Hill in Southampton into High Point Nature Reserve.

The ten-acre property, which Buy Back Bermuda acquired in 2022, will become the fourth public nature reserve managed by the organisation, after Somerset Long Bay East Nature Reserve in Sandys, Vesey Nature Reserve in Southampton and Eve’s Pond Nature Reserve in Hamilton Parish.

“In 2024, we will be working hard to raise the remaining funds and to finalise the conservation management plan for the reserve,” Ms Border said.

She added that BNT will apply to put solar panels in the parking lot of its Waterville headquarters in Paget.

“By siting the panels in the car park, we can generate our own energy while respecting the architectural heritage of the beautiful Grade 1 listed building,” she explained.

Ms Border said the organisation “will continue to advocate robustly for Bermuda’s environment and cultural heritage, as we have done for over 50 years”.

To support or learn more about BNT, visit bnt.bm.