The land, which is adjacent to Tom Moore's Tavern, has been owned and cared for by the Walsingham Trust since shortly after the Second World War.

Mr. Colin Curtis, one of the Walsingham trustees and the owner of The Perfumery in Bailey's Bay, told The Royal Gazette about the problems the area was facing.

Much of the trouble, he said, was being caused by mountain bikers who were riding along the many bumpy trails which criss-cross the park.

"The problem is that these people are riding their bikes along the paths and in doing so are destroying the trees and saplings growing there,'' said Mr.

Curtis. "Any damage that happens in the park is critical because all damage runs the risk of disturbing the balance of nature in this highly sensitive area.'' This area is home to much of Bermuda's endemic plant life, including Bermuda cedar, and is the only remaining location for yellow wood on the Island. It is also the prime nesting area for the night heron.

As Mr. Curtis puts it, "This is a very unique corner of Bermuda. With the plants, trees and wildlife we have here, the area most closely resembles what an uninhabited Bermuda would have been like.'' "To prevent this from happening the trust has decided to install gates at the entrances to the park,'' said Mr. Curtis. "These would allow pedestrians through but not cyclists.

"Litter is another large problem with people using the park and then leaving their bottles and plastic bags behind as well as the remnants of the fires that they have lit. Ideally we would like to have park rangers,'' Mr. Curtis continued,"but this would have to be done on a volunteer system unless we could gain Government assistance.''