A land snail thought to have been extinct for more than 40 years and an Atlantic turtle are two of more than 100 species which have been added to the Bermuda Protected Species list.

A total of 203 species have been included in the Protected Species Order 2016; 120 more than the original 83 named in 2007 under the Protected Species Act.

The most recent revision has seen 119 species of coral, which form critical habitat to many of Bermuda’s marine wildlife, added to the list as well as the long- spined urchin, West Indian sea egg and the three-rowed sea cucumber.

The Bermuda land snail, Poecilozonites bermudensis, which was rediscovered in Hamilton in September 2014, Kemp’s turtle and the leafcutter bee have also been afforded added protection under the new order.

Mark Outerbridge, the wildlife ecologist for the Department of Conservation Services, told The Royal Gazette the department was continuing the “lifeboat projects” as another means to protect the island’s endemic and most endangered species.

“The Department of Conservation Services initiated a lifeboat programme over ten years ago through which it has sent a number of vulnerable endemic species to institutions overseas for husbandry and cultivation,” Dr Outerbridge said.

“Over 150 Poecilozonites bermudensis were shipped to the London Zoo in July 2015; the Chester Zoo has a small population of Bermuda skinks; the Vienna Zoological Gardens is breeding one of the rarer Bermuda killifishes and the Henry Doorly Zoo has done an exemplary job with propagating the Governor Laffan’s fern [a species now extinct in the wild].

“In fact, the Laffan’s fern has done so well under laboratory propagation that the Department of Conservation Services is presently reintroducing them at select sites across Bermuda in the hope that it will become established again.”

Under the Act, protected species are divided into three categories; level 1, 2 and 3, with level 1 being the highest level of protection whereby recovery involves the highest levels of expertise and contraventions invoke the greatest penalties.

Dr Outerbridge added: “While five species were completely removed from the list, the overall number has increased to 203.

“Fifty-one species are now under level 1 protection, 145 are under level 2 and seven are under level 3.”

Under the revised 2016 list, six fern species, including the Governor Laffan’s fern, have been regraded from level 1 to level 2 to recognise the significant advancements made in propagation and to have some public assistance with cultivation and care. The yellowwood tree was also regraded from level 2 to level 3 to allow propagation and community-wide planting, while restricting intentional removal, and the land hermit crab was moved from level 1 protection to level 2.

“The new list also modifies species protection; for example, only those Bermuda cedar trees that survived the cedar blight of the mid-1940s to 1950s are protected under the Act.

“Many cedar trees that sprouted after the introduction of two cedar species imported immediately after the blight have proven to be hybrids rather than genetically true Bermuda cedars.

“Four plant species — St Andrew’s cross, Bermuda snowberry, Bermuda palmetto, and Bermuda olivewood — have been delisted because they are not habitat restricted. They are available for purchase in local plant nurseries with the department’s recognition that listing was hampering their use by the public in the Bermuda landscape.

“Furthermore, the green heron was removed from the Act because this species is not considered in need of recovery and its protection is adequately covered by the recently amended Protection of Birds Act (1975).

“These changes were made to better serve those species that are special to Bermuda, or which play important roles in our environment, and are imperilled by human activities.”

For more information visit the Department of Conservation Service’s website here.