The National Trust President denied the organisation was in turmoil and said they are working hard to buy large open spaces across the Island.

Bill Holmes, who has headed the conservation organisation for more than a year, said that while they support environmental advocacy they are focusing their efforts on accumulating and maintaining land.

"It's our believe that the only way to ensure that an open space isn't built on is for a conservation organisation to purchase it," Mr. Holmes said.

"Even land that has a protection order, because that can change.

"So that is what we have been doing, currently we are in negotiations for a 10-acre plot of land in Southampton."

The National Trust works with the Audubon Society to reclaim the parcels of land at risk of development and preserve them as open spaces as part of the "Buy back Bermuda" campaign.

Already they have acquired the Somerset Long Bay East Nature Reserve, which they purchased after raising more than a million dollars.

Mr. Homes spoke after the Bermuda Sun published an article about the resignation of former executive director Derek Morris after eight months. The resignation was confirmed by Mr. Homes, who added that the parting was amicable. Mr. Morris said the job simply wasn't his "thing".

The Bermuda Sun article also quoted an anonymous source who claimed the Trust had numerous problems, one of which was that Mr. Homes was an ex-pat and therefore at a disadvantage when it came to running an organization that is the guardian of Bermuda's heritage.

But Mr. Holmes said he didn't consider his nationality a hindrance and added: "I have been in Bermuda 10 years and I am very committed to the Trust.

"I am also extremely lucky in that a number of Bermudians have helped teach me about the Island. People like Jennifer Gray and David Wingate have shown me and taught me so much, I've probably had the best teachers in Bermuda."

He added that decisions were made collectively by the Trust's executive committee.

And Mr. Holmes said that just because the National Trust was not on the front lines of environmentalism at the moment — like the Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) — did not mean they were in turmoil or idle.

"We support BEST in their efforts but right now we are focusing on purchasing land," he said. "What we are doing is a real service to Bermuda, keeping these areas as open space."