A conservationist intends to muster top-level international support to fight the "environmental nightmare" of a new hospital being built in the Botanical Gardens.

The government and Bermuda Hospitals Board have been under attack over the plans since they were unveiled on August 30, despite a pledge to restore the current King Edward VII Memorial Hospital site to "open space."

Andrew Dobson, past president of the Bermuda Audubon Society which promotes the protection of wild birds, animals and plants said he was appalled at the thought of the gardens being lost to development.

He hopes the UK-based BirdLife International, which is the largest worldwide bird conservation organisation, will support the fight against the proposal. As current president of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds, he plans to bring this group on board too.

"The Botanical Gardens is a well-known location for birds and birdwatchers. The large area of open space in an otherwise very densely populated part of Bermuda provides birdlife with a haven. The diverse habitat of lawns, formal gardens, woodland and thicket supports endemic, native and introduced flora," said Mr. Dobson.

He said many species of birds could be spotted in the gardens with resident species including the bluebird, white-eyed vireo and cardinal. During the fall, he said, the greatest variety of bird species is recorded when migrant birds head south from north to south America.

"As many as twenty species of wood warbler might be recorded in any fall season, as well as sapsuckers, vireos, waxwings, tanagers, grosbeaks and orioles. The Botanical Gardens provide a stop-over, a re-fuelling opportunity, before the birds continue their journey," explained Mr. Dobson.

"The thought of any country losing part of its Botanical Gardens could only be considered an environmental nightmare. Bermuda or any other country would be viewed very poorly by the rest of the world if construction development took place in a national botanical garden."

Meanwhile, the Audubon Society also urged the public to fight the plans and said the current KEMH site is the best place to rebuild the acute care facility.

In the aftermath of three public meetings at Bermuda College last week, at which many people spoke out against the gardens plan, Vice President Fiona Doe said: "The Botanical Gardens is the largest and most centrally located tract of legally protected public open space in Bermuda, accessible to all and enjoyed by most. It has social, cultural, historical and biological value that cannot be replaced to provide exactly the same experience. We risk losing a 'hot spot' for local and migratory wildlife. Not only are the plant and tree collections under threat but the great diversity of insect and birdlife that make the gardens their home would be gone forever."

Speaking on behalf of the society's committee of management, Mrs. Doe said the present hospital site is the optimum one in terms of being central and accessible to the whole of Bermuda.

"The Bermuda Audubon Society encourages the people of Bermuda to continue to voice their concerns regarding the loss of park land and to ask for a consultative process that will lead to a plan that meets the concerns and needs of the majority, and which does not result in the development of any open space," she added.