Posted on January 22, 2024
TAMPA, Fla. — As climatologists predict more frequent and stronger storms, Florida coastlines face the risk of erosion. But now, there is a bill in the state legislature that aims to help our shores by expanding protections against mangroves.
Mangroves are so important to coastline protection that there are laws protecting them. SB 32 calls for the expansion of state statute by encouraging local governments to replant and restore mangroves. It would also implement permitting incentives for local governments to install what are known as “living shorelines,” which are the use of natural elements that protect as they grow.
“Any kind of measures we can do to promote mangrove growth along our shoreline areas really go a long way to help those communities that are built behind the mangroves,” said Peter Clark, president of Tampa Bay Watch.
Clark formed Tampa Bay Watch 30 years ago, and for the past decade, staff and volunteers with the organization have been installing living shorelines in the Tampa Bay region. One of the most recent installments at Lassing Park in St. Petersburg includes oyster reef balls, oyster shell bags, marsh grass and mangroves.
“Once you construct these things, they’re natural. So they can stay there and continue to grow for many, many years,” Clark said. “If you construct living shorelines and other green infrastructure, that not only helps protect those areas but provides ecological benefits back to the bay.”
The bill would also require the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to partner with the state’s Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services to conduct a statewide feasibility study to determine how mangroves and other living shoreline projects could improve a community’s rating with the National Flood Insurance Program and ultimately lower insurance premiums.
