Feb. 10, 2003 – Planting mangroves is mucky work, but the 10 people who spent last Thursday knee deep in mud at Lameshur didn't seem to mind.
"It's one of those things were everybody comes together for a wonderful goal," Donna Nemeth, a scientist from Coral World Marine Park on St. Thomas who worked on the project, said.
Rafe Boulon, chief of resource management for the V.I. National Park, said he managed to navigate the muck in the mangrove forest by stepping fast across the top. "As soon as you stop, you sink up to your knees," he said.
Wearing sunhats, sunscreen, old clothes and boots, the 10 individuals made their way through what once was a prime mangrove habitat near Lameshur Bay. They were part of a University of the Virgin Islands-sponsored team that included personnel from UVI's Center for Marine and Environmental Studies, its Conservation Data Center, the V.I. National Park and Coral World.
Their mission was to replace mangroves that died after 1995's Hurricane Marilyn and the spate of subsequent hurricanes blocked the channel that had kept the mangrove forest moist.
"When the area dried up, the salinity went way up," Boulon said. The mangroves couldn't shed enough salt through their leaves to stay alive, he said.
Heavy rainfalls subsequently reopened the channel enough to return needed moisture to the area, but Boulon said it would take decades for the mangrove forest there to restore itself naturally. While some mangroves have begun growing on their own, this project will help things along, he said: "We're tying to give it a jump start."
When the mangroves were healthy, he said, the area was a prime wildlife habitat and home to such species as the white crown pigeon. A thriving forest "produces a lot of nutrients that go into the bay. They feed the seagrass beds and coral reefs," Boulon said.
The team started its replanting project with 600 red mangroves donated by Coral World. According to Nemeth, the marine park's own mangrove lagoon exhibit was so prolific that it had to be thinned out.
On St. Croix, Marcia Taylor, who heads UVI's Marine Advisory Service on the island, was instrumental in getting a similar replanting project under way. "The reds had really good success at Salt River," she said.
The Marine Advisory Service falls under UVI's Center for Marine and Environmental Studies. Mayra Suárez-Vélez, who heads the service on St. Thomas, said a team eventually will try to plant black and white mangroves, as well. Taylor said she has had less success with the black and white species on St. Croix.
The team needs volunteers for the next go-round of mangrove planting on St. John. Suárez-Vélez said the Marine Advisory Service expects to hire an intern to live at the nearby V.I. Environmental Resource Station and monitor the mangroves and work on educational projects.
She said some team members would return to Lameshur Bay this week to measure the height of the newly planted mangroves and count their leaves. "Hopefully there will be progress," she said.
Boulon said the project received National Park Service funding of $38,000. The money is channeled through a joint National Park Service and UVI organization called the Cooperative Ecological Studies Unit. From there, it goes to UVI to operate the project.
To sign on as a volunteer, call Suárez-Vélez at 693-1392.
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