Nonsuch Camp was a residential camp for teenagers aged 15-18 years, based on the Nonsuch Island nature reserve. It was held at the end of the school year, in late June, bringing together around a dozen young people from both Government and private secondary schools for an intensive week of learning about Bermuda’s natural history, both marine and terrestrial, through daily field trips and lectures. It had long been the flag-ship programme for environmental education for our island’s youth.
The camp was run virtually every year from 1972 through 2017 as a collaborative effort by Bermuda Audubon Society and Bermuda Zoological Society, with the support of the Department of Conservation Services. Campers were chosen based on their academic record, application essay, motivation and teacher recommendations. Every effort was made to ensure a diverse representation of schools and students in the final selection.
The main objective was to provide the students with an awareness of the unique biodiversity, fragility and wonder of Bermuda’s natural environment, hopefully fostering a life-long interest and desire to protect it. Around 400 students have taken part in the camp over the years, some of whom have gone on to work in the environmental science field and many of whom have continued their support for Bermuda’s environment in a variety of ways.
Nonsuch Natural History Camp combined both hands-on exploration and science and laboratory based academic work. There were daily field trips to key habitats, some of which involved scientific sampling and fieldwork. Every evening there were lectures by eminent local scientists on subjects ranging from fish and corals to birds, caves, mangroves and man’s impact on the environment. Students were tested each night on what they had learned that day, and sat an examination at the end of the week. A trophy was presented to the best-performing student and to the student who showed the most “camp spirit”.
The students who took part in the camp had the opportunity to learn from the best of our environmental leaders in a unique forum on Nonsuch Island. The students also experienced a great deal of personal and social development, learning how to work together both in scientific teams and on the clean-up rota, as well as coping with being away from home in a very basic “camping” style environment. There are few such affordable opportunities available for Bermuda’s young people to enhance life-skills at this critical age.
Over many years, Nonsuch Natural History Camp has inspired future guardians of our environment and kick-started many Bermudians in careers in the environmental sciences. The camp was sadly discontinued to ensure the success of the Cahow Breeding Programme on Nonsuch Island.
If you attended Nonsuch Camp, we’d like to hear from you. Please email us at info@audubon.bm
