Hidden beneath the grass, soil and layers of sand dredged from the Flatts Inlet lies the remnants of Eve’s Pond.

The Hamilton Parish pond was filled in the 1920s with dredged material that was pumped to the site by pipeline and few of the residents living in the surrounding Blink Bonny Estate neighbourhood would have any idea it ever existed.

But after years of research and preparatory work, David Wingate and a team of conservationists are looking to restore the old pond site back to its former glory as a haven for birds and other wildlife.

Dr Wingate, who has been involved in nine pond restoration projects in the past half-century, told The Royal Gazette that he hoped the Buy Back Bermuda scheme would be submitting plans in the coming weeks. “No one would have known this pond ever existed if you were to look at it today,” he said. “It was a tidal pond that rose and fell with the tide through a cave system that came out in Harrington Sound.”

The land where the pond once stood was donated to the National Trust and the Audubon Society as part of the Buy Back Bermuda scheme in 2013.

But an additional hillside lot behind the pond had to be purchased in order to make the reserve large enough to incorporate an interpretative nature trail.

Over the last few years extensive research has been done on the cave system leading to Eve’s Pond to ensure any restoration project would cause no damage.

“The cave system leading to the Eve’s Pond site is the longest cave that has been mapped in Bermuda so it’s obviously important that we look after that,” Mr Wingate said.

“We had a team of specialists in about two years ago who used state-of-the-art equipment to detect voids under the surface so we can map exactly what we will come across during the restoration.

“It has been a slow process and we will have to raise more funds to get the job done, but we are ready to push ahead with this project and will be submitting plans to the planning department for approval soon.”