Fifty years on, nature reserve needs you

Members of the Bermuda Audubon Society have kickstarted a $75,000 appeal with donations topping several thousand dollars in the past month.

Pollution

The Seymour’s Pond Restoration Appeal is the charity’s first independent capital project since buying Stokes Point Nature Reserve in 1980.

The nature reserve was the first created by the society, in 1963, but over the years invasive Brazil pepper bushes and sheathed paspalum grass have halved the pond in size.

The water has also been contaminated by chemicals and pollution, from nearby road run-off and pesticides used on nearby farmland.

A rise in sea level has also drowned part of the land, forcing a redesign of its boundary.

The Bermuda Audubon Society launched its appeal in December to restore the reserve to its former glory.

Andrew Dobson, charity president, said: “The society has already received several thousand dollars from its membership, so we are very pleased, but we need to involve the public once more.

“We are also approaching potential corporate donors. We are confident we can raise the money.

Flora

“We need to restore the pond, both by enlarging it and improving the natural flora.”

The charity has gained planning permission to reinstate part of the pond filled-in by garbage dumping in the 1930s.

It also has permission to remove the encroaching plants. Excavated material will be used to re-contour the edge of the pond, providing a barrier with farmland, to prevent pollution.

The pond, at Barnes’ Corner, provides an important habitat for migratory and wintering waterfowl.

It is home to ducks, herons, egrets, sandpipers and kingfishers.

Moorhens, coots and pied-billed grebes also breed there.