Message from the Executive Director

I recently took a Sunday walk with family at the new High Point Nature Reserve. It was a beautiful autumn day – sunny and warm, with a gentle breeze. We reached the top of the hill where there is a fantastic sea view to the south, since the casuarinas were removed. But it wasn’t the sparkling sea that took my breath away. It was the butterflies – masses and masses of butterflies, mostly our endemic Bermuda Buckeye, but also Gulf Fritillaries, Cabbage White and the yellow Cloudless Sulphur. There were hundreds of them fluttering over the grass, more than I have ever seen in one place before, and the sight of them was a delight!

It was the perfect reminder why preserving such places matter. Not only does it provide somewhere for other creatures to thrive, the beauty of nature has tremendous power to calm the mind and lift the spirits. This is the perfect time of year to get a ‘happiness fix’ from a walk on the wild side at one of the many nature reserves BNT holds in trust for you.

Karen Border

Executive Director

Fiesta at Waterville — A Night to Remember!

On Friday, October 24, we hosted our very first Fiesta at Waterville, and it was an absolute blast!

Over 150 guests joined us for an evening filled with live music by Mia and James, delicious bites from Chef Chiko and perfectly crafted Gosling’s cocktails. The atmosphere was lively, joyful and full of energy as members and non-members mingled and celebrated together.

Even the heavy rain couldn’t dampen the fun — it only added to the excitement and made the night even more unforgettable!

A huge thank-you to our amazing volunteers and staff for making it all happen and to our generous supporters — Mia & James, DasFete, Gosling’s, Class Act Design, Chef Chiko and Undercover Tents — for their incredible contributions and kindness.

Natural Heritage Updates

Myles Darrell, Head of Natural Heritage

After the Storm: Nature Needs Our Help

Another storm, another trail of destruction. As we count our blessings, let’s hold Jamaica and Cuba in our thoughts, prayers and meditations as they recover from yet another devastating system.

While our attention naturally turns to damaged homes and communities, it’s easy to forget the quieter impact these storms have on our ecosystems. When trees and vegetation are torn apart, they leave gaps in the canopy — and those gaps are an open invitation for invasive species to take hold. Every ray of sunlight that reaches the forest floor gives invasives a new opportunity to spread, and they will.

There’s another challenge that follows storms: the clean-up rush. In the effort to tidy up quickly, some people resort to dumping horticultural waste in nature reserves or parks. Unfortunately that green waste often carries seeds and roots of invasive plants which then spread rapidly in these protected areas. This adds enormous pressure to already overstretched conservation teams working hard to protect our native and endemic species.

As storm activity increases with climate change, managing and maintaining Bermuda’s natural heritage will require not just funding, but continued community support. Every hand helps.

Join Us: Trees for Scores – 22 November

You can make a difference by joining us on November 22 for the launch of the Trees for Scores initiative. Footballers and cricketers will be planting trees to match the number of goals they’ve scored this season — a fun and meaningful way to give back to nature!

In partnership with BUEI, this event marks the beginning of what we hope will be many more community plantings. Together, we aim to plant over 330 native and endemic trees, shrubs, and groundcovers across three Bermuda National Trust reserves: Spittal Pond, Sherwin Nature Reserve and High Point Nature Reserve.

Visit our bnt.bm to learn more about the project and how you can get involved.

Trust Talk: Spiders and Science – 6 November

Don’t forget, one of the world’s leading spider specialists, Dr Danielle Sherwood, is on island this month! Join us for her Trust Talk on November 6 — there’s still space available, and we’d love to see you there.

Dr Sherwood will also be providing critical training to local conservationists throughout November and, we hope, taking some time to explore Bermuda’s unique habitats herself. She’s already discovered new species this year — and with any luck, she’ll make some fascinating finds here too.

Cultural Heritage Updates

Dr Charlotte Andrews, Head of Cultural Heritage

Truth Telling

We may be a small island, but Bermuda’s cultural heritage is deeply connected to the wider world. Today, as societies everywhere grapple with how history is told—and whose stories are heard—we are reminded that our work is part of a much larger movement. Around the world, there is a troubling roll-back of progress: the silencing of diverse voices, the defunding of the arts, culture and research, and a retreat from honest engagement with the past.

In this climate, the Bermuda National Trust’s commitment to truth telling and inclusion is more vital than ever. By continuing to broaden representation across the sites, museums and collections in our care, we can offer a counterpoint to that global narrowing. Through careful stewardship, collaboration and interpretation, we keep illuminating the full, shared history of this island—its beauty, its complexity and its humanity.

Remembrance Renewal

As Remembrance Day approaches, we honour those who served and the human stories etched in Bermuda’s historic cemeteries and war memorials. These sites, cared for by the Bermuda National Trust, hold not only names but legacies of courage, loss and resilience that continue to connect us through time.

Special thanks go to Hilary and Dick Tulloch whose Bermuda Memorial Inscriptions project enables families—and the Trust—to locate and care for these resting places.

The Royal Naval Cemetery in Sandys, established in 1812 near the Royal Naval Dockyard, is among Bermuda’s most significant historic burial grounds. It serves as the final resting place for generations of British and Caribbean servicemen and their families, including those who served in conflicts from the early 19th century through the First and Second World Wars. Peaceful and deeply evocative, the cemetery stands as a lasting tribute to service, sacrifice, and remembrance.

The Bermuda Memorial Inscriptions book is available for purchase online or at Waterville and cost $35.

Please join me on Saturday, 8 November, from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm for a community volunteer morning at the Royal Naval Cemetery. Together we’ll clean headstones, weed plots in preparation for professional conservation of broken stones and borders, and plant lilies and other suitable flowers to help beautify this sacred space. Community service hours are available, but participants under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Chris Hardy, Luis Delvalle, and Tom McFarlane of Island Memorials, together with Dean Saunders of Saunders Maintenance Ltd. (second from left), will carry out the conservation work with generous funding from Chubb.

Many hands make heritage work!

Heritage Education Updates

Anna Stevenson, Heritage Education Manager

BNT is pleased to be helping the St George’s Foundation deliver its own excellent education programme which is focused on the World Heritage Site. During October, all P5 public school students took part in online learning which looked at the work of UNESCO and how World Heritage Sites are chosen. The children were taken on a virtual trip around the world to explore some incredible sites of natural and cultural significance. Many of them were surprised to discover that Bermuda has its very own World Heritage Site. They then explored the causes and some of the major events of the War of 1812 and finished by examining the changes brought about by the war to the town of St George and the surrounding forts. The programme finishes with a field trip to Ferry Reach which will take place in November.

I also had the pleasure of introducing senior students at the Bermuda Centre for Creative Learning (BCCL) to archaeology. We discussed the difference between fossils and artefacts, explored stratigraphy and used a picture chart to date pottery. That was followed by a field trip to St George’s and a visit to the BNT archaeology lab at the Globe Museum.

Finally, our Funtastic Fall camp was a huge success with campers constructing ghost lamps and spooky houses and enjoying a visit to Verdmont for inspiration. We finished the week by baking bread and making floating eyeball lemonade!