Mangrove Restoration

The the most recent environmental restoration project that I worked on with my Eco-Action group, was in partnership with the SCCF marine lab on Sanibel. During one of the last hurricanes that went past Sanibel, a huge section of mangrove forest, inside the Ding Darling state park was destroyed from strong wind and waves. Mangrove ecosystems are one of the most productive environments on the planet; on par with tropical rainforests and coral reefs. They also are extremely important for storm protection and prevention of erosion; which is a major issue in sandy Florida.
 The marine lab showed us how to select healthy mangrove propagules (seedlings), that float up in huge numbers onto the beach. The lab had done studies on mangrove replanting, and found that if the propagules were stuck at least three inches into the mud, in grid patterns, they had almost a 90% chance of surviving. We filled dozens of buckets full of propagules, and headed off to the damaged section of forest. During the boat ride out we saw probably 10 osprey, 2 bald eagles, dozens of egrets, and easily a hundred pelicans. By the end of the day, the lab estimated that based on the average number of propagules that fit in one bucket; we had planted around 6,500 baby mangroves! This was a super cool experience, particularly because through the actions of one day, we helped restore an ecosystem that will be productive for generations.