11:20am April 11th, 2014. Prime Minister Christie addresses gathering at the opening of Phase 2 of the Leon Levy Plant Preserve

Bahamas National Trust, Leon Levy Foundation Add A Freshwater Wetland, Edible History Area , Lath House and Weather Station to the 25 acre Preserve

Eleuthera, Bahamas, April 11 2014 . The Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve, a 25-acre sanctuary created jointly by the Bahamas National Trust and the Leon Levy Foundation, celebrated the opening of Phase II of the Preserve at 10 a.m, April 11 in Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera. The Preserve is the first National Park on Eleuthera and Phase II has injected over a million dollars into the local economy. World-renowned landscape architect Raymond Jungles and subtropical plant expert, Dr. Ethan Freid, designed this second phase of the Preserve. The Second phase construction includes a lath house, freshwater wetland display, edible history section, and weather station.

The lath house will serve as a propagation area for native plants, as well as an educational space for teaching students and visitors about the techniques associated with growing native plants. The Preserve plans to host horticultural native plant propagation workshops for local nurserymen and students, and will produce a stock of native plants for replenishing display beds and greening programmes in the community. The lath house will also produce seedlings for the Preserve, to sell and give away to visiting students.

The freshwater wetland feature used cistern that had been used for irrigation on the property. The area has been completely transformed with a waterfall and amazing bird perches created from dead casuarinas.

The edible history section illustrates the history of The islands through what eople ate, including edible plants associated with The Lucayans, the Spaniards, the Africans and the British, as well as more recent examples of Bahamian cuisine.

A weather station will record meteorological data at the Preserve, including wind speed and direction, temperature, relative humidity, radiant light, rainfall, and barometric pressure. Real time data will be available via the Preserve’s website. Historical data will be available to students and researchers for classroom use and to track climate change. An additional sensor array will record data within the forest and how it relates to the larger environment. The Preserve is also developing a weather and climate module for students.

Phase II opening attendees include the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie, Prime Minister of The Bahamas, The Hon. Philip “Brave” Davis , Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works the Hon. Obediah Wilchcombe, Minister of Tourism and Minister of Legal Affairs the Hon. Damien Gomez, Alexander Sokoloff , U.S. Embassy , BNT President Lawrence Glinton , members of the Bahamas National Trust Council; Eric Carey, Executive Director of the Trust; Shelby White, founding Trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation, local government officials, community members and others.