Belco is to mark Earth Day and its Occupational Health, Safety and Environment Week by planting two rare, native yellowwood trees on the Audubon Society’s Alfred Blackburn Smith Nature Reserve in Paget.

Jessica McClure, manager of Occupational Health, Safety and Environment at Belco said in a statement: “We wish to support the propagation and survival of these threatened, native trees in Bermuda as part of our commitment to the island’s unique environment.

“When we learnt that the Audubon Society wanted to plant more of these trees on its nature reserves, it made sense to support that plan.”

The yellowwood (zanthoxylum flavum) is a broad-leaf native tree that can grow up to 30 feet. During early settlement times the trees were highly valued as a hardwood and the lumber was exported to England until such export was banned in 1632. It is now very rare and protected by law.

President of Bermuda Audubon, Andrew Dobson, said: “We are pleased and grateful that Belco has chosen to assist us in planting more yellowwoods on our ABS Reserve.

“We have one very healthy specimen there already, but in this species male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. Both are needed for pollination, so groves of more than one tree must be planted to ensure reproduction.

“Hopefully, with two more trees we will get seedlings in the future.”

The ABS Reserve, just west of Coral Beach, is a coastal nature reserve open to Audubon Society members and members of Coral Beach Club.