Mangroves

Local experts say that with an increase in tropical disturbances, and as the area progresses into a new hurricane season every year, mangroves have little time to recover, and therefore, lack strength to guard our coastlines from inclement weather.

It’s tough to overstate the importance of mangrove forests along Florida’s Gulf Coast, where they shield homes and lives from hurricane storm surge, especially a repaired portion like part of what is now the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Florida’s first line of defense against the dangers of storm surge is under threat. Mangrove forests are critical to reducing wind speeds and flooding.

Florida Gulf Coast University students and staff worked alongside Island Coast High School students to plant a new mangrove forest on Bowditch Point Tuesday. The nearly 300 propagules, detached parts of mangroves that are used as seeds, will be used as a barrier for storm surge, habitat for native species, and more.

Mangroves are far more important than most people realize. Without them, barrier islands could wash away. With them, mangrove roots trap sediment, building land over time.

Mangroves are incredibly beneficial to Florida's environment and can be a bonus for your property, too.

A group of homeowners north of Rotary Park marched in the rain earlier this week to protest the pre-development efforts of a group seeking a way to make 380 untouched acres in South Cape Coral attractive to a future developer

A residential development proposal would clear mangroves, and storm-surge buffer, near Shell Point. Lee County commissioners will vote on it next month.

Thousands of baby mangrove trees planted around Pine Island last year to replace ones previously damaged or destroyed by hurricanes have taken root and grown up to a foot. Nearly all of the mangrove propagules that were planted on Benedict Key in Pine Island Sound in 2021 are bearing green leaves, which provide shade for the tiny creatures in the water below and food for things like the aptly-named mangrove tree crab in branches above.

Florida wildlife and nature is a bountiful subject for photographers, filmmakers, environmentalists and artists, alike. Elam Stoltzfus is an environmental…