FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Mangroves have always had our backs by protecting our beaches during storms, and on Tuesday, it was time to return the favor.
After Hurricane Ian ripped through mangroves across Fort Myers Beach’s coastline, FGCU and Island Coast students worked together to plant hundreds of mangroves along Bowditch Point’s shoreline.
Watch to see how local students worked to help restore mangroves on Fort Myers Beach:
FGCU professor of ecology and environmental studies Win Everham, said the project started last year, with half of the mangroves grown by FGCU and the other half grown by students.
“If we protect mangroves, they protect us. So what we hope these mangroves are going to do is help stabilize this dune system which protects this park and provides our beaches,” Everham said.
Everham said the mangroves will also provide fish habitat. But after major storms, he said mangroves don’t always get the chance to fully take root before the next hurricane rolls in.
“So we’re trying to help jumpstart that establishment, and hopefully the trees that we put in today are going to get anchored in and establish their roots so when the next wind and storm surge comes they’ll make it,” Everham said.
For students who grew up watching storms change their communities, they said this work hits home.
“It just means so much because we know we could possibly help deter some of that damage,” one student said.
Another student added, “I’m helping the community. Not only does it feel good for myself, but I’m helping out the people that struggle from hurricanes.”
In about 10 years, Everham said these mangrove trees will stand tall and help protect this shoreline for the next generation.
“We have to be thinking about what we want Southwest Florida to look like 50 years from now, and we have to start working on that today,” Everham said.
