A new walking path could be established at Paget Marsh as part of a proposed conservation management plan for the nature reserve.

The CMP, produced by CK Landscape Architecture and Consultancy for the Bermuda National Trust and the Bermuda Audubon Society, proposes measures to remove invasive species and bolster native and endemic plants in the reserve.

The plan also includes the creation of a raised berm to make a walkway linking St Paul’s Anglican Church cemetery to a bus stop near the eastern corner of the property.

“The pathway created on top of the berm would be a pathway of gravel or mulch as in other reserves approximately four to five feet wide,” the CMP said.

“This berm would be created by continuing the existing berm with pathway at the eastern end of the marsh, while also allowing some of the southern section to be dredged to remove cow cane.”

Piping would be installed at various points in the berm to allow for a natural flow of water and maintain the existing water table within the marsh.

The CMP said that Paget Marsh’s boggy nature has helped to protect it from construction and deforestation, with populations of cedar, palmetto and wax myrtle left “virtually untouched”.

However, like many other marshes, the area became a community dumping site.

The CMP said: “Henry Wilkinson, recognising the value of Paget Marsh, stopped the dumping and arranged for the Historical Monuments Trust, the predecessor of the National Trust, to acquire much of the marsh from the Anglican Church and private landowners in the 1950s.

“In more recent times, cattle grazing would frequently occur next to marshes and did so at the western end up until about 1990, while, today, agricultural plots often border a marsh.”

Between 1998 and 1999, a 375-foot boardwalk was built into the marsh to give visitors a glimpse of the rich natural life at the marsh and a freshwater pond was excavated near its entrance.

The CMP said the property is made up of an agricultural reserve and a nature reserve, with the latter containing a variety of habitats, including a pond, mangroves, sawgrass and a forest of palmetto and cedar.

The plan proposes the removal of invasive plants from all the sections where possible, although it noted that accessibility may make managing some areas difficult.