Habitat Restoration and Education Program

Throughout coastal North Carolina, thousands of acres of wetlands and hundreds of miles of shoreline have been altered, degraded or lost. Replacing these natural habitats with roads, parking lots and other hard, constructed surfaces results and decreased filtration of polluted runoff before it enters our waters. Oyster populations have also declined, resulting in a loss of reef habitat area for aquatic species and reduced cleansing of the water by these filter feeders.

The federation’s Habitat Restoration and Education Program seeks to restore and preserve some of our most threatened environments, including wetlands and oysters, while also increasing the people’s appreciation for the value and beauty our coastal habitats. We give people hands-opportunities to protect our environment. Whether growing marsh grass seedlings, bagging shells to build new oyster reefs or offering information through workshops, we believe hands-on restoration is the first step in becoming an active steward in protecting our coast.

The program focuses on involving students and adults in our habitat and shoreline restoration projects. This emphasis on restoration closely aligns educational activities with the federation’s mission to provide opportunities for individuals to take an active role in the stewardship of our coastal waters and habitats. The program also further develops classroom curriculum, workshops for teachers and other activities that support these projects.

Solid Track Record

The federation has solid experience and expertise in the design, planning, permitting and implementation of restoration projects. In the past seven years alone, the federation has:

  • Successfully completed 47 restoration projects and restored more than 40,000 estuarine acres
  • Actively involved more than 1,800 volunteers annually
  • Provided a living classroom for thousands of students to learn about oysters and their habitat.
  • Joined 10 other conservation groups to form Restore America’s Estuaries, which is dedicated to restoring a million acres of coastal habitat.

Our Habitat Restoration and Education Program includes an array of projects such in a diverse variety of coastal habitats – oyster reefs, longleaf pine forests, wetlands – and includes “living shoreline” alternatives to traditional shoreline bulkheads and growing and planting marsh grasses with students from our coastal counties.

The Habitat Restoration and Education Program works to implement a strategy to protect and restore areas critical to coastal life in all regions of the coast. Projects can either be located in the watershed, involving wetland restoration or land preservation, or located in the water, such as restoration of an oyster reef.

Volunteers are crucial for the success of our restoration projects, and we have opportunities for all interests and skill levels in each of our regional offices.


Habitat Restoration and Education Programs

Oyster Habitat Restoration:

The federation creates new oyster reefs each year to provide valuable habitat area for oysters and other marine species and to improve water quality in our coastal environment. The program is guided by the N.C. Oyster Plan (pdf) developed by a concerned group of regulators, researchers, aquaculture experts and restoration groups. Our Oyster Education Program allows high-school students and adults to help monitor the new reefs and learn about the life cycle of the oysters and help to collect data for use in future reefs. [ learn more ]

Wetland Restoration:

The federation is committed to improving water quality along our coast. One way to achieve this goal is through the restoration of wetlands, from salt-water marsh to freshwater cypress swamps. We are currently restoring North River Farms in Carteret County in the largest wetlands restoration project in the state. Our Student Wetland Nursery Program gives middle school students a sustained and hands-on opportunity to learn about wetlands and water quality, build wetland nurseries at schools, cultivate wetland plants from seed and use these plants to restore coastal shorelines in their communities. [ learn more ]

Living Shorelines:

Initially developed as an alternative to bulkheads, living shorelines are erosion control measures that also provide stormwater buffers and threatened wetland and riparian habitat. [ learn more ]

Coastal Curriculum:

The federation supplemental classroom curriculum focuses on specific North Carolina environmental issues and includes activities for use with all ages. [ view pdf ]

Student Education:

The federation’s Oyster Education Program strives to include students in all facets of restoring oyster reefs. We let the kids help bag oyster shells, put the bags on new reefs and monitor the restored reefs. [ learn more ]

Public Education:

Information through our monthly cable show; publications, including our annual State of the Coast Report; workshops; and the Daland Nature Library can be imperative to knowing more about what's happening in and around the coast. So can walking along one of our nature trails. [ learn more ]

 

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