Before modern human development came along most of Florida's coastline was lined with mangroves, from about Tampa Bay to the Indian River Lagoon. They protected the shores. Our cities grew up along the coast, and many of those mangroves were cut down, but we still needed to protect our shores from waves and wind, so mitigation techniques like seawalls and riprap were developed. And stormwater systems were created to collect inland water and store it or move it around to prevent or reduce flooding.
This is a simplification, but it's safe to say we took a manmade approach to protecting our communities from storms and the wind and water they create, and cause damage with.
Starting in the late 2000s, environmental engineers and policymakers began talking about taking "nature-based" approaches to protect ourselves from storms. Concepts like 'living shorelines' were developed, where planners would work with nature. Think planting seagrasses and protecting or restoring dunes along the beach, or strategic mangrove placement as examples. But those approaches are still far from standard.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has created a new Flood Resilience Blueprint called Working with Nature that uses the City of Naples as a test-site to show just what's possible, and what approaches would work best and where. We learn more.
Guest: Dr. Carrie Schuman, Climate Resilience Advisor at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida
You can download the blueprint executive summary here.
You can read the full report here.
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