People can get their name on three acres West End property by donating to the Buy Back Bermuda Campaign.

In an effort to to protect rural space from future development, the Bermuda National Trust and the Bermuda Audubon Society have launched a public campaign to buy nearly three acres of land at Long Bay, Sandys.

And the names of those who wish to be on the plaque will be recorded in bronze at the Long Bay site for generations to come.

?Help buy a 500th birthday present for Bermuda ? make a donation large or small and your name will be recorded forever. And not in a book but on the site, where you can see it and point to it and show your grandchildren that you actually did something to buy back a piece of Bermuda,? Buy Back Bermuda spokesman David Saul said.

He said two of the Island?s oldest conservation groups, the Bermuda Audubon Society, created in 1954, and the Bermuda National Trust, established in 1969, have joined forces to save a beachfront property from development.

?Somerset Long Bay is a delightful shallow water beach, right next to Cambridge Beaches. This ten-acre site currently comprises a three-acre National Park and a three-acre Audubon Reserve. However, the Planning Department recently received a submission to build 22 condominium units on the adjoining, but privately owned, three acres of the beach,? Dr. Saul said.

?An action team comprising four members of the Audubon Society and four from the National Trust came together and decided to approach the public to raise the necessary money to purchase the property and preserve the site for posterity.

This group called their project the ?Buy Back Bermuda Campaign?, he said.

?They first agreed to pay the owner the market price; they prepared a management plan for the property; they then launched a fund-raising campaign ? first, quietly seeking the help of local and international Foundations, and then, going public and approaching the maximum number of people, including school children, and both local and international companies, for financial assistance.?

Phase one of the Buy Back Bermuda campaign has been completed, he said, and now the campaign?s team is ready to make a direct approach to the public in order to reach the objective of raising $1.7 million to buy the land, put it into first-class condition, and also establish a fund to preserve the site for the benefit of future generations.

?The Buy Back Bermuda team has already raised half of their money, and they have also asked the Ministry of the Environment for a grant. We are informed that Government is favourably impressed by the project and are considering a six figure donation? Dr. Saul said.

?Nonetheless, it really remains for local and exempted companies and members of the general public, to put their hands to the wheel (and their hands in their pockets) to ensure that this cause is a success.

?Uniquely, the Buy Back Bermuda team plan to erect a monument on the site which will record, on a bronze plaque, the names of every individual who makes a donation.

?Somerset Long Bay has changed little since the early explorers sighted it 500 years ago. Thanks to the efforts of a small group of concerned people, and the generosity of many concerned citizens, this beautiful and charming beachfront property will remain in its natural state for the next 500 years and beyond.?