Mangrove revival efforts in Sarasota Bay were given a huge boost by Fort Myers High School's environmental action group.
The Green Shore Club teamed up with biologists for a mission to plant more than 2,500 seedlings in two hours at the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage.
A 10 Tampa Bay News report revealed that environmental experts project Florida's coasts, still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Ian in 2022, will lose thousands of acres of mangrove vegetation in the next 30 years due to overdevelopment, illegal harvesting, and rising sea levels caused by warming temperatures.
The club was founded by seniors Benjamin O'Brien and Luke Scrabis, who would bike by the destruction routinely and decided they wanted to be a part of the solution.
In an effort to build their community back together, they spoke to scientists and were shocked at what they learned.
"All you have to do is plant them in the ground, in the right spot along the water, in the waterline, and then they will grow. It just really was eye-opening to us to how much impact we can contribute to our area," O'Brien said in the 10 Tampa Bay report.
Every single seed counts in the massive effort to restore mangroves. The group has ambitions to plant more than 5,000 mangrove seedlings before the end of the summer.
Mangroves need our protection the way they protect us. They stabilize shorelines — protecting the land and the people and animals who live there — from erosion, waves, and storms.
"And when the mangrove leaves drop into the water, they produce tannins that help keep algae blooms under control, and also, as those leaves decompose, they are the basis of the food chain that actually helps create a healthy estuary," Dave Tomasko, executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, told 10 Tampa Bay.
Preserving these trees needs to be important to all of us, as our planet's changing climate has created higher tides and stronger currents, which threaten the trees' root systems.
A couple on the Pacific Coast of Mexico hopes to accomplish a similar goal by training community members on how to grow and restore mangroves. Education is the first step in creating change.
"Two months ago, I didn't know anything about mangroves," Scrabis told 10 Tampa Bay, demonstrating how easy it is to get involved and make a difference.
"It's a win-win for everybody. We're making the world slightly better by these mangroves, and we're also enjoying ourselves out on the beach," O'Brien added with a smile.
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