More than 100 people dug deep to help the Bermuda National Trust plant native and endemic trees for a project at Spittal Pond designed to protect the area from cow manure run-off.

The BNT has dug a berm to protect the pond from pollutants and run-off from the nearby dairy farm and has cleared part of the area.

Volunteers, including Rena Lalgie, the Governor, and her husband, spent the day reintroducing about 400 trees to the area.

Karen Border, the executive director of the BNT, said the pollutants could cause algae blooms that deplete the pond of oxygen and kill off the fish population.

Ms Border added: “Spittal Pond is a community space. We would like more people to come and enjoy it and we are trying to begin to transition it back to an endemic and native stronghold.”

The BNT submitted plans last June to pave a berm near the pond to keep run-off from the farm getting into the water.

They are also repairing a fence to keep cows out of the pond.

Ms Border said that hundreds of trees would be planted along the berm as well as along the pond in the coming months, with volunteers handling a significant part of that work.

She added that getting the public to participate in rebuilding the nature reserve would help boost community investment in the space.

Myles Darrell, head of natural heritage for BNT, said that the event was “another labour of love” to preserve Bermuda’s natural and cultural heritage.

Mr Darrell wants to get the wider public involved because it promotes greater understanding and respect for the BNT’s efforts.

He said that people “feel a kinship to their place” and become invested in the natural area.

Mr Darrell said that although the planted trees would help in the short-term, keeping out invasive plants would be an ongoing project spanning 20 to 50 years.

He added: “The project’s never ending because we need people in here caring for the space and the invasion that we’re dealing with isn’t going to stop suddenly.”

The BNT also showcased a new sign that reinterprets Portuguese Rock, which holds a set of initials carved by a sailor in 1543 and marks the earliest physical sign of human presence on the island.

Stacey-Lee Williams, of the anti-racism group Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda, said that the first ship to land in the area was likely a slave-trading vessel.

She added that she was "honoured“ to be involved with adding more context to the site’s initial signage.

Ms Williams said: “There are so many organisations that have pieces of the story, so the more we collaborate and come together we can close that gap.”