Shelby White and the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve on the Island of Eleuthera

by Larry Smith

GOVERNOR'S HARBOUR, Eleuthera - What is described as "the biggest fundraising drive in history" was launched last year by Wall Street financier Warren Buffet and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. They have roped in scores of the wealthiest families in America for a long-term, charitable project of unprecedented scope.

Buffett and Gates have asked America's super rich to publicly commit to give away at least half of their fortunes within their lifetimes or after their deaths, in their own ways. The pledge stemmed from a series of meetings the two men held with key billionaires in 2009 to consider the effects of the recession on philanthropy.

Those who have stepped up to the plate so far include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Dominos Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, software mogul Larry Ellison, hotelier Barron Hilton, banker David Rockefeller, eBay founder Jeff Skoll, Steve Case of AOL, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, and CNN founder Ted Turner.

Also on the list is Shelby White, who has spent part of every winter over the last 30-plus years in Governor's Harbour. She first came to Eleuthera in the early 1970s to attend a wedding reception with her then boyfriend Leon Levy, co-founder of the Oppenheimer mutual fund. Levy has been described by Forbes magazine as a “Wall Street investment genius and prolific philanthropist”.

"Leon and I married in 1983 and we bought this house on Banks Road a couple years later," she told me last week over a glass of wine, following the gala opening of the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve just down the road. "We loved the simplicity of life here, the people, and the beauty of the landscape."

After Leon died in 2003 at the age of 77, Shelby set up a foundation in his name. In the years since, she has made multi-million-dollar gifts to organisations like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Shelby White-Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications, the New York Botanical Garden, and New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.

She has also injected almost $3 million into the Governor's Harbour economy to create the 25-acre Native Plant Preserve - the first of its kind in the region. Operated by the Bahamas National Trust, it will serve as a centre for the study and display of Bahamian plants, and was designed by international landscape architect Raymond Jungles with subtropical plant expert Dr. Ethan Freid, who is a former lecturer at the College of the Bahamas.

"I wanted to celebrate my husband's devotion to the island while contributing to a better future for Eleutherans," Shelby said.

"You have to really experience the environment to learn about cultural heritage, and now Bahamians and visitors can walk miles of trail through the native forest habitat, and view the beautiful orchids, the food and medicinal plants, and the hardwood trees that played such an important role in the history of the island."

The Preserve features over 171 species of Bahamian trees, shrubs and herbs, including special displays of medicinal and economic plants. Visitors can take guided walks through a mangrove forest and deep into the thick native coppice, where birds, air plants and orchids abound. At the property's highest elevation, an observation tower provides a 360-degreee view of the surrounding landscape. And there is a visitor centre and gift shop.

A cacti garden, orchard, agricultural plant display and other activities are still in the works, Shelby said. "We see the Preserve as an ethnobotanical research centre for the Bahamas, with a sought-after internship programme, and as an important facility for the propagation of native plants and trees." In this case, according to Ethan Freid, 'native' is defined as any plant that grew on the islands before the arrival of Columbus.

One of the key goals is to preserve knowledge of Bahamian bush medicine. Before modern pharmaceuticals, cultures around the world used preparations made from the bark, leaves and roots of plants to treat illness. In the Bahamas, over 100 plants are used for medicinal and nutritional purposes - to reduce anxiety, relieve respiratory infections, restore appetite, increase sexual vitality and treat asthma and skin allergies among other things.

"It makes a big difference to learn about cultural history through living plants, and there is a lot we can discover today from traditional herbal medicine," Shelby said. In fact, examples abound of modern drugs that have been developed from herbal remedies. Aspirin was derived from willow bark in 1853, for instance, and Aloe vera is widely used as an effective treatment for wounds and burns.

The Levy Preserve will feature a bush tea concession stand, offering locally prepared beverages that will, as one writer on the subject suggests, "put sparkle into tired, worn-out bodies, dredge up stamina, cure many maladies, and, most importantly, enhance male sexual performance."

Shelby herself admits to being partial to Five Finger Tea sweetened with honey. It's said to cure a range of ailments - from fever to cramps - and is also used as an astringent or mouthwash.

The daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants who arrived at New York's Ellis Island in the early 1900s, Shelby was a financial journalist in her younger days, writing for the New York Times and other publications. In 1993 she published a book called What Every Woman Should Know About Her Husband’s Money, "But I never advised Leon on investments - he was a financial genius."

She is part of a small coterie of affluent foreigners who have made Governor's Harbour their second home. They include investors like the Italian-American Urgo family, who operate the low-rise Cocodimama Resort on Alabaster Bay here, and American Eddie Lauth, who wants to redevelop the derelict 240-acre French Leave property. The original French Leave built in the 1950s burnt to the ground in 1972. It was reopened by Club Med, but closed again in 1999 after extensive hurricane damage.

Back in 2008, Urgo Hotels had planned a 570-acre, three-hotel resort featuring a golf course, marina and spa at the old US Navy base property near Governor's Harbour. Both the Urgos and Lauth had signed agreements with the government to develop their respective properties, but the projects were derailed by the global recession. And according to senior government officials, there has been no movement on either one recently.

Sky Beach Club is a new residential resort just outside Governor's Harbour under development by Totally Florida, a real estate team based in Orlando. They have totally scarified the hillside overlooking the azure ocean. Described by one traveller as "a very bizarre place", the ridge at Sky Beach looks as if it has been "carpet bombed by a fleet of B52's". The property features an upscale bistro and a few ultra-modern palazzos that seem totally out of place with the island's character.

In fact, the contrast with the natural Bahamian landscape on display at the Levy Preserve could not be more stark. At the Preserve's opening ceremony, remarks delivered on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette called for the preservation of indigenous vegetation. "This Preserve, with its overriding mission to promote education, conservation and research, is a great addition to our national park system that will showcase Eleuthera's natural history."

Bahamas National Trust President Neil McKinney noted that this was the first time the BNT had been invited to operate a park on private land, although the organization currently manages over 700,000 acres of protected areas on public land throughout the country. "Hopefully, this will be a model for other private properties on other islands. This facility sets a very high standard," he told hundreds of local and out-of-town guests who attended the opening last Thursday.

As one of those guests (Doon McKinney) put it to me: "Eleuthera has a powerful, magical energy - in the land, the sea, the sky and the people. There's a huge need to preserve and teach knowledge of our indigenous plants especially medicinal ones. We are so grateful to have the Levy Preserve as a way to showcase and celebrate this wonderful aspect of our culture."

Public access is an important consideration for the Preserve, and the BNT conducts educational tours for schoolchildren that complement the Ministry of Education's science curriculum. Topics include Bahamian ecosystems, endangered species, climate change and biodiversity, as well as an historical overview of plants and their ethnobotanical and cultural uses in the Bahamas.

So there is now a well-designed museum of plants, an outdoor classroom and an enjoyable destination on Eleuthera, with the goal of teaching folks about the critical role that plants play in the natural world. Shelby is also on the board of the New York Botanical Garden, which recently welcomed her $15 million gift for a new garden displaying plants indigenous to the northeastern United States.

At her urging, the New York Garden has launched an electronic catalogue focused on the Bahamian plants represented at the Governor's Harbour site. This catalogue is linked to the Preserve's own website (www.levypreserve.org) and will be expanded in the coming months. Greg Long, president of the New York Botanical Garden, attended the opening ceremony in Governor's Harbour.

In her Eleuthera home last week, Shelby reflected on the last 30 years: "The rhythm of life here has changed somewhat," she told me. "We are not as isolated as we once were, and now there's the worry that development will spoil the natural environment. There's a lot more to do in helping people to learn about the indigenous culture and I hope the Leon Levy Preserve will play an important role."

Comments

[amy core]

It was exciting to learn about the Native Plant Preserve on Eleuthera. The late Helen Higgs (Nellie) was one of the first to describe the native plants used medicinally particularly on the out Islands. She wrote and illustrated a book on Medicinal Plants of the Bahamas. I treasure my copy of this booklet and also the privilege of knowing her. Perhaps this will be republished in connection with the preserve.
Amy Core....past president Herb Society of America.

[las]

My company(www.bahamasmedia.com)tried to get Helen's heirs to authorise republication of that book some years ago without success. However, there are new publications in the works.