Royal Gazette: Plans detail future of High Point Nature Reserve
Walking trails, a fruit forest and a fernery could all be introduced to the island’s next nature reserve, according to a recent planning application.
The proposal, submitted by Buy Back Bermuda – a collaborative initiative by the Bermuda National Trust and the Bermuda Audubon Society – laid out the organisation’s plans for the High Point Nature Reserve on Alton Hill in Southampton.
A Conservation Management Plan included in the application said the first one to two years of the project would include the development of walking trails and a small parking area, as well as the instillation of a series of informative signs.
The plan said that a portion of agricultural land would be earmarked for the creation of a “fruit forest” with locally growing fruit such as pomegranate, mulberry, fig, peach and loquat.
The organisation would also start work on removing invasive plants and casuarina pines, although that work would be ongoing.
In the following years, Buy Back Bermuda hope to work with local beekeepers to bring hives to the fruit forest, develop a pollinator garden and create a fernery, which would house a variety of native and endemic ferns, including several endangered varieties.
The CMP noted that a significant portion of the site was being used for sheep grazing and the bulk of the agriculturally zoned portion of the area would continue to be used for that purpose.