Tucked away near Annaberg and Leinster Bay is a collaborative initiative between the National Park Service, Friends of the Park, and Iowa State University. Students and community members alike have been hard at work revitalizing the local ecosystem by planting mangrove saplings around the existing Annaberg salt pond.
When Hurricane Irma struck in 2017, a majority of the mangroves were destroyed, and a once thriving coastal forest was almost completely wiped out. Since October of this past year, Friends of the Park employees and Iowa State University students have been restoring this area. What are sometimes referred to as “rainforests of the sea”, mangroves protect our shorelines from erosion, maintain a biodiverse marine life, and encourage carbon sequestration, all vital to the balance of a healthy ecosystem here on St. John.
Read moreReclaiming Paradise: St. John’s Mangrove Restoration Project