A project in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, aims to unpave paradise and tear down a parking lot.
In June 2024, the Marine Discovery Center broke ground to convert its parking lot into a wetland habitat that will include a living shoreline, Spectrum News 13 reported. The "un-development" project will feature 1,000 new trees and native plants, and it is scheduled for completion by fall.
"We are enhancing it back into wild habitat rather than it being this hardened shoreline that not a lot of plants and animals can use," Tess Sailor-Tynes, MDC's conservation science coordinator, told the news outlet.
This is not MDC's first rewilding rodeo — the center also has been transforming its property from the old New Smyrna Beach High School site into its natural state for over a decade.
New Smyrna Beach is home to the most biologically diverse estuary on the continent, which hosts species such as alligators, turtles, stingrays, fish, birds, and oysters. Not only will this rewilding project provide important habitat to these creatures, but it will benefit people, too — spending time in nature can reduce stress, improve cognitive function, and increase happiness, among other advantages.
Plus, wetlands provide many ecosystem services, such as erosion control and improved water quality.
This is one of a slew of rewilding projects happening across the globe that aim to return land to its natural state. For instance, Norway recently completed its largest rewilding project in history in a move that will support polar bears, Arctic foxes, and other imperiled wildlife. In Ireland's Beara Peninsula, one man started rewilding old farmland about 14 years ago — today, it is beginning to resemble a temperate rainforest.
You can rewild — albeit, on a smaller scale — right from your backyard by replacing your lawn with native plants. This supports a healthy ecosystem while helping to save you cash on water bills. In fact, gardening and home magazine House Beautiful declared that rewilding is the biggest gardening trend of 2024.
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