Vision
Burt Island is the hub of Waterstart’s educational outreach with a mission to steward the development of student character.
Guiding Principals
Burt Island will serve as a microcosm of an ideal community and a role model for our country and the planet as a whole. Students and members of the Burt Island network are challenged to design and maintain sustainable systems that support our educational campus.
Systems:
Community: inclusive, fair, supportive, diverse
Garden: carbon positive, productive, organic
Woodland: native and endemic, biodiverse
Facilities: simple, sustainable, off-grid, well-maintained
Marine: innovative, productive, educational
(Zero) Waste: “reduce, reuse or recycle”
Seagrass Management
Waterstart’s campus is surrounded by multiple marine habitats, including seagrass meadows in various stages of health. These meadows are a food source for marine species, provide a habitat for juvenile fish, stabilize near shore sediments and act as a carbon sink. Many local meadows are becoming degraded due to human induced factors such as damage from boats, dredging and coastal development. Also, overfishing of sharks has resulted in an increase in Green Turtles in Bermuda and they are now overgrazing the seagrass beds. Our project focuses on preventing degraded seagrass meadows from being completely lost due to overgrazing.
Some immediate projects include:
- Construction and deployment of turtle exclusion cages
- Snorkeling to collect data and maintain cages
- Collation, publication and submission of data and project reports
Shellfish
Restoration Pilot
The seafloor of Bermuda’s enclosed bays used to be teeming with life including scallops, mussels, conch and oysters. Today, many of these species’ numbers have declined dramatically; proposed reasons for the decline include overfishing, loss of habitat (seagrass beds) and changes in water quality. This project involves baseline surveys of the remaining shellfish populations around Burt’s Island as well as steps to restore the populations to sustainable levels. Restoration efforts include collecting spat, which is larval shellfish that have settled out and attached to a surface, in spat collectors.
Some immediate projects include:
- Construction, deployment and maintenance of shellfish moorings and nets
- Periodic cleaning and data collection of shellfish
- Collation, publication and submission of data and project reports
Woodland Restoration
Waterstart’s Conservation Management Plan zones over two-thirds of Burt’s Island for woodland and coastal restoration. Currently, most of the island is populated by invasive plants such as Brazil Pepper, Casuarina and Allspice. The systematic removal of these species, and subsequent re-planting of native and endemics, is a long-term project that requires many hours of dedicated labor.
Some immediate projects include:
- Removal of invasive trees as per Conservation Management Plan
- Chipping of branches to create mulch
- Maintenance of native plant nursery
- Planting of native species
- Collecting geographic data to monitor the project
Organic
Garden
A critical consideration for any island to be sustainable is the need for a reliable food source. Waterstart has cleared invasive species in a significant area near the shelter to begin the process of creating an organic garden. Banana trees are thriving and we have had success with tomatoes, spices, and paw paw trees. There is a lot more to do and we look forward to growing our garden to include a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
Some immediate projects include:
- Maintenance of fruit tree nursery and vegetable gardens
- Maintenance of compost systems
- Installing irrigation systems and watering
Facility Upgrades
& Maintenance
Waterstart’s Conservation Management Plan zones over two-thirds of Burt’s Island for woodland and coastal restoration. Currently, most of the island is populated by invasive plants such as Brazil Pepper, Casuarina and Allspice. The systematic removal of these species, and subsequent re-planting of native and endemics, is a long-term project that requires many hours of dedicated labor.
Some immediate projects include:
- Removal of invasive trees as per Conservation Management Plan
- Chipping of branches to create mulch
- Maintenance of native plant nursery
- Planting of native species
- Collecting geographic data to monitor the project
