Location: Mangrove Lake, South Road, Smith’s Parish
NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
In 1975 the heirs of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Thompson North gave a portion of Mangrove Lake and an acre of land to the National Trust in memory of their parents. Over the next few years, the Trust ran a ‘Save Open Spaces’ fund-raising campaign and purchased a neighbouring lot, making the reserve 4.5 acres. The reserve protects an extensive stand of shoreline mangroves as well as the wooded hillside to the west.
HT North is one of the most important reserves in the Trust’s care, with two critically important ecosystems – a saltwater pond and pond mangroves – as well as the upland woodland. Bermuda’s saltwater ponds boast a remarkable diversity of species, second only to coral reefs. Mangrove Lake is the largest, and its size contributes both to its stability and to the variety of life it supports. It is one of the only two sites where the native Diamond Terrapin breeds, and is home to two breeding herons – the Yellow-crowned Night Heron and the Green Heron, which feeds on the endemic Bermuda Killifish. The Red Mangroves edging the western side of Mangrove Lake contribute greatly to the concentration of biodiversity and provide shelter for many unique marine species such as algae, sponges and oysters on their submerged prop roots. Mangrove Lake and Trott’s Pond have been proposed for designation as Ramsar sites because they “represent Bermuda’s largest enclosed brackish/salt water ponds.”
