Three projects in Bermuda have won funding from the British Government?s Overseas Territories Environment Programme.

They are for Somerset Long Bay Nature Reserve, the Protection and Recovery of Threatened Species and Environmental Education on Saltus Island.

Over 30 project proposals were received from all the Overseas Territories ? eight were submitted from Bermuda.

The first Somerset Long Bay Nature Reserve project is being run by Bermuda?s Audubon Society and aims to restore and manage the 2.86-acre property.

It will include replanting the beachfront and eastern side of the reserve as native woodland, and access will be available to the public via a nature trail. The project will be completed by 2007. A $90,000 grant has been awarded.

The Department of Conservation Services is responsible for the Species and Habitat Recovery Plans project. It will promote the protection and recovery of threatened species and habitats listed under Bermuda?s Protected Species Act 2003.

Around 50 terrestrial and marine species and 24 cave species are currently considered.

The proposed work will bring together existing recovery efforts and will provide the capacity building required for the recovery of all listed species.

It is particularly timely in view of the workshops taking place in Bermuda this week on Bermuda?s caves. The project will receive $160,000 over two years.

The Saltus Island Project is a woodland management scheme and environmental education initiative, first established in 2002 in conjunction with the Bermuda National Trust.

The project aims to manage the woodland on the island, controlling the invasive species and planting native and endemic plants.

Senior students from Saltus Grammar School visit the island twice a month