Florida Gulf Coast University students and staff worked alongside Island Coast High School students to plant a new mangrove forest on Bowditch Point Monday.
FGCU Professor of Ecology and Environmental Studies Win Everham connected the two schools for the project. Both Island Coast and FGCU had access to mangrove propagules, which develop while attached to a parent mangrove tree, detach and take root elsewhere to grow.
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"Those propagules are legal to obtain if you find them floating and you have a permit," Everham said. "They float up onto the shore. It's a natural process."
Mangroves offer benefits to Fort Myers Beach’s ecosystem. They serve as a habitat for native species and provide sightseeing opportunities for tourists. When fully mature, mangroves protect from storm surge, a large threat to southwest Florida's barrier islands. Greg Kosik, a Natural Areas Coordinator with Lee County Parks & Recreation, says mangroves reduce wave energy and wind speeds. This helps mitigate damage from hurricanes.
"These mangroves are what really helped take the brunt of that energy, so our homes and our properties don't take it as hard," Kosik said. "So they act as that natural buffer, that energy sponge for that storm. We're really trying hard to help make sure that these mangroves are allowed that time."
Trailers and truck beds full of propagules, around 300 in total, rolled in to Bowditch Point. Both Island Coast and FGCU students and staff took to the beach to begin planting nearly 300 propagules. Island Coast Junior Riley Pemberton took pride in helping to create the forest.
"It's amazing because I saw the damages we got from Ian and Irma," Pemberton said. "It's so relieving to know that we could help prevent that from happening again."
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