SANIBEL, Fla. — Have you ever thought about adopting a mangrove? That’s right, a mangrove. You can do that this Wednesday at Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation’s Adopt a Mangrove event.
You can take home a red mangrove; take care of it through the winter months; bring it back in the spring; and eventually that mangrove will become part of a bigger mangrove forest.
“We wanted a way for people to get involved that maybe didn’t have the availability to go out on a restoration trip with us,” said Kealy Pfau, Coast Water Director with SCCF.
Over the past 4 years, thousands of red mangroves propagules have been adopted by members of the community. These mangroves are then later returned and planted in restoration areas.
Pfau says restoring the mangroves became even more important post-Ian.
“Getting mangroves back to Pre-Ian levels is going to take a very long time,” said Pfau. “Trees grow very slowly. And after Ian, the mangroves took a while to even propagate again.”
That is because Ian's wind and surge severely battered our mangroves. But the mangroves also did their job as well as.
“All those roots really help slow down all that wave action and really absorbed at storm surge,” said Pfau. “So, you are not going to see that full impact. So, it really saved people a ton of money and hopefully some sanity as well.”
Not only can mangroves lessen the impacts of storm surge, but they are also important to the rest of the ecosystem.
“They are going to provide fish with places to have their nurseries,” said Julie Weaver, a volunteer with SCCF and self-proclaimed mangrove momma. “As they grow, the tops are going to be provide places for nesting birds, roosting birds. Oysters are going to come and glom onto the roots and help filter the water.”
That’s why caring for these young mangroves is so important.
“These are pretty easy little babies,” said Weaver. “You punk them in your side yard. You keep them moist. You can sing to them, talk to them if you like. But they are pretty hardy.”
If you are interested in adopting a mangrove, you can do just that at 9am at the Bailey Homestead on Wednesday.
