In a bid to save open spaces, The Bermuda National Trust is hosting an Elizabethan Ball.

National Trust director Steve Conway said the Trust is now in a position where it requires extra funds to acquire land and maintain the land that they already have.

The play, ?Shakespeare in Love? will go a long way to help in this area.

?Our goal is to protect land in its natural state for future generations and to do this we need financial assistance for acquiring and managing properties suitable for preservation,? said Mr. Conway.

?The Trust?s Open Spaces Acquisition Fund was drastically depleted after the purchase of 23 acres of Smith?s Island in St George?s Harbour in 1999.

?There is an urgent need to restock this fund to enable the Trust to act on land purchase opportunities as they arise.?

Mr. Conway said the Trust was continually in discussion with land owners to encourage them to donate all or part of the land as open space.

He said: ?We are also exploring unique ways for land owners to enter into legal conservation covenants under the Trust?s Act to protect land from development in perpetuity without owners giving up their title.

?This is a new initiative for the Trust.

?The Trust and its predecessor, the Bermuda Historic Monuments Trust, have been instrumental in the acquisition of land to be preserved as nature reserves and open space.?

The Trust currently protects about 250 acres of open space including Spittal Pond, Warwick Pond, Paget Marsh, Gilbert Nature Reserve, Gladys Morrell Nature Reserve, HT North Reserve, tracts of Devonshire Marsh, Locust Hall Farm, the Butterfield Reserves, and Gibbons Nature Reserve in Devonshire.

?The Trust has been greatly assisted in this area by kind donations and bequest of land by philanthropic owners,? Mr. Conway said.

?And the Trust has many allies in protecting land including the Bermuda Audubon Society with its own nature reserves and the Bermuda Government with their National Parks.?

He said the Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan, contains recommendations which were made by a scientific study called the Bermuda Biodiversity Country study. The study illustrates the fragile nature of the Bermuda environment and recommends that a coordinated plan for the Island is implemented including both Government departments and non-Governmental conservation organisations.

?This approach is happening ? the Trust has recently been in discussions with the Department of Planning about the next Development Plan and will continue to be part of the consultative process,? he said.

?We have a close relationship with the other departments in the Ministry of the Environment and with the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo and the Bermuda Audubon Society, amongst others.?

Mr. Conway added in Bermuda we have a booming economy based on international business and tourism, which fuels the development industry and this puts great demands on land use.

?We are not against most development. People need to be housed and we must have the services and infrastructure for living. It?s a balancing act,? he said, ?but we need to plan as a community to know how we want Bermuda to look for future generations.

?We need to ask ourselves what standards and quality of life we wish to maintain and develop.

?As the Joni Mitchell song goes ..?don?t it always seem to go that you don?t know what you?ve got till it?s gone? they paved paradise and put up a parking lot?.?

The idea for the Elizabethan Ball stemmed from the university days of committee chair Elizabeth (Liz) Greetham.

She said: ?We had carried out the ball yearly along the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and it was a great success.

?When the opportunity presented itself, I thought let?s reinvent it.?

?Shakespeare in Love? will be held at Fort Hamilton, on June 19, 2004.

Queen Elizabeth?s thespian players, jesters, jugglers, magicians, and maidens will entertain the lords and ladies. The actors and guests are expected to dress in period wear.

As guests pass over the drawbridge pages and pageantry will greet them as they enter an Elizabethan Market.

Over cocktails, they will be invited to wander and become absorbed into a scene from the distant past. Surrounded by heraldic shields, flapping pennants and some typical 16th Century characters.

There will also be maidens dancing around the Maypole, troubadours playing flutes and mandolins near the braziers, duelling fencers, men on stilts, fire eaters, jesters and jugglers.

At the call of a trumpet fanfare guests will enter the marquees as lords and ladies of Queen Elizabeth?s court.

Chef Serge Botelli is creating a mouth watering royal banquet, which Mrs. Greetham said: ?Will be similar to the food eaten during that time.?

The gala will also include a live and silent auction, in collaboration with the international auction firm Christie?s.

Some of the items on offer will include a luxurious one week stay for up to eight couples at the Palazzo Ducali, in southern Italy. It is the private home of the Duke of Fragnito. Another is a stunning cocktail ring, which was designed and made in France circa 1920. It features a seven-carat oval cut aquamarine mounted in a scrolled platinum setting. Third, a personal dining experience with a six-course meal for up to eight people prepared by gourmet chef Serge Bottelli.

Fourth is a week of luxury at La Savonnade, in southern France, which is situated in 22 acres of vineyards, cherry orchards and lavender fields.

Other auction items include art work, by some of the Island?s most prominent artists, a Radisson Cruise, fine wine at Wente Vineyards in California?s Livermore Valley, one week in an elegant apartment in London?s Chelsea, and a week in the Azores.

Tickets are $500 and $1,000 respectively.

If you would like further information about this event, please call the Bermuda National Trust at 236-6483.