Coastal Restoration and Adaptation Projects

The global network for Coastal Resilience is intended to support coastal restoration and adaptation projects. Adaptation to coastal hazards has traditionally been undertaken – often unsuccessfully – using shoreline hardening and engineered defenses. Ecosystem-based adaptation offer an alternative approach to built infrastructure and is sorely needed within an overall strategy for creating human community resilience in the face of climate change. To address this need Coastal Resilience collaborators have developed a range of restoration solutions, and communities are already taking action.

Nearly 400 volunteers came out to Mobile Bay in Alabama to help restore the Gulf of Mexico. The volunteers worked alongside scientists and project managers to construct the first quarter-mile of oyster reef as part of the 100-1000: Restore Coastal Alabama project. Spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy, Alabama Coastal Foundation, Mobile Baykeeper and The Ocean Foundation, the 100-1000 project aims to build 100 miles of oyster reefs and grow 1,000 acres of marsh and sea grass. Photo credit: Erika Nortemann/The Nature Conservancy

Since 2001, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have partnered to restore the health of degraded habitats and thereby build natural defenses, or buffers, to impending storms and sea level rise. Marsh, coral and oyster reef, mangrove, and seagrass meadow restoration projects help engage communities regarding their importance for water quality, biodiversity, and coastal protection.  Please follow the link to a list of restoration projects from the TNC-NOAA Partnership for more details.

Communities in Action

100-1000 Restore Coastal Alabama: Restoring the Gulf of Mexico One Mile at a Time

By building 100 miles of oyster reefs, the 100-1000 coalition will create the conditions needed to plant, support and promote more than 1000 acres of coastal marsh and seagrass:

• Providing habitat for oyster larvae to settle and colonize
• serving as nursery habitat for commercially and recreationally important finfish and shellfish (shrimp, blue crab, speckled trout, reddrum, southern flounder, ladyfish and gray snapper)
• Dampening of wave energy and decreasing erosion
• Stabilizing sediments and decreasing turbidity

As recovery continues through the next several decades, this effort will not put Mobile Bay, Albama back to where it was before the 2010 oil spill, but Mobile Bay will be ahead by 100 miles of oyster reef and 1,000-plus acres of marsh and/or seagrass. This project physically constructs reefs and promotes the development of marsh and seagrass habitat, primarily through natural recruitment, but with supplemental planting as well. The project also includes critical job creation and community involvement components to support and sustain the vision of a better coastal Alabama.

For more information on 100-1000, visit their website:  100-1000: Restore Coastal Alabama

The Nature Conservancy, its partners and over 500 volunteers started to build a 224-foot living shoreline at Pelican Point along Mobile Bay, Alabama. In total, 20,500 interlocking concrete blocks will be stacked along the shore to form the foundation of four oyster reefs. The reefs will protect 329 feet of natural shoreline, helping to minimize erosion, protect coastal dunes and enhance natural habitat. Photo credit: Erika Nortemann