VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – As hurricane season approaches, scientists and conservationists are turning to nature-based solutions, like mangroves, to help protect Florida’s fragile coastlines.
Mike and Sandi Makowski have lived along the Halifax River since the mid-1990s and have seen firsthand the increasing risk of stronger hurricanes and higher tides. Each passing storm has made the impacts of rising water harder to ignore since it often ends up spilling into their backyard.
“Fortunately, (the water) regresses pretty quickly,” Mike Makowski said. “We know that the levels are rising. We can’t do anything about that, but we want to try to mitigate and try to keep as much of the land as we can and be ecologically mindful in how we approach things.”
To help better protect their property, the Makowskis brought in the Marine Resources Council (MRC) to line their 100-foot shoreline in Ormond Beach with 30 red mangroves. News 6 was there as biologists tucked each 3-to-4-foot-tall tree into the spaces between the existing coquina rocks.
Mara Skadden, MRC’s director of science, led the planting effort.
“This is a great project because we’re kind of hybridizing a shoreline,” she explained. “There’s a manmade aspect here, right? This rock is not what would be on a shoreline naturally, but it’s what’s going to protect it, and we’re integrating things like native plants and mangroves. It has a greener side than say a sea wall or revetment.”
Mangroves may look like simple shoreline shrubs, but their benefits are powerful. Their dense, tangled roots reduce storm wave height by up to 66%, buffer against erosion and stabilize vulnerable coastlines.
Skadden pointed to a recent study that showed living shorelines are eight times more effective at storm protection than traditional sea walls — and far more affordable.
“Homeowners are realizing, especially with more recent damaging hurricanes, sea walls might not be the best solution,” she said. “So, when you’re considering how much armoring a shoreline costs, maintaining the natural ecosystem is actually less expensive and better for you and the environment.”
But Florida faces a major challenge: the state has lost more than 80% of its native mangroves due to a number of factors, particularly shoreline development.
“Since the 1950s, when Florida really became populated, everybody said, ‘Sea wall, sea wall, sea wall,’” Skadden said. “At the time, that was the solution. Now, we know it’s not.”
That’s why MRC has ramped up its mangrove restoration efforts, especially in vulnerable areas like the Indian River Lagoon, where 80% of the mangroves have been wiped out. As a state-licensed aquaculture nursery since 2004, the organization now grows more than 10,000 mangroves at any given time, from propagules to 10-foot trees.
They’ve increased their planting events to twice a week, pausing only during hurricane season to allow new roots time to take hold.
“Our nursery is over 20 years old, so we’ve had lots of time for trial and error,” Skadden said. “We’ve found that our 3-gallon trees are the smallest that we can plant and have at least 90% success. That’s what we want. If our homeowners are coming out and spending money for us to install, we want them to be successful.”
One key to that success? Understanding just how slowly mangroves grow.
“This mangrove is about 4 years old and it’s about 3.5 feet tall,” Skadden explained. “These trees, especially the red mangroves because they put a lot of energy into horizontal growth with their roots, grow very slowly. A 10-foot tree is going to be 15 to maybe 18 years old.”
Skadden says many homeowners mistakenly think they lose control over their property once mangroves are planted.
“A lot of people think that if I come to your shoreline and plant a mangrove, you can never do anything with it again,” she said. “You can’t remove it, that’s true. Removing mangroves is illegal in the state of Florida. However, you can manage their height.”
Florida law allows homeowners to trim mangroves between 6 to 10 feet in height on their own. Once they grow taller than 10 feet, a professional mangrove trimmer must be used.
Still, planting the right size is critical.
“Lots of people will plant very baby mangroves, like propagules that are still green and don’t have woody growth,” Skadden said. “Unfortunately, those do not have a good turnout rate. They get washed out, taken out by birds for nesting material, and that kind of thing.”
But demand for these storm-fighting superstars is growing fast, and MRC is struggling to keep up.
“We’re genuinely concerned we’re going to run out,” Skadden said. “Our goal for the next two years is to actually move our capacity to 40,000.”
Beyond storm defense, mangroves provide critical habitat for up to 80% of Florida’s commercially and recreationally important fish species. As a benthic ecologist, Skadden studies life on the seafloor and has seen how hardened shorelines, like sea walls, disrupt the food web.
“We know with a sea wall, those creatures disappear,” Skadden said. “They’re no longer there. So, things like fish and crabs that depend on them for food also disappear, which means our higher predators like dolphins and birds disappear. We want to keep this natural connection from land to water. It’s what was meant to be.”
Mangroves also act as natural water filters, trapping nitrogen, phosphorus and other pollutants before they reach sensitive waterways like the Indian River Lagoon. Remarkably, they remove six to eight times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per acre than rainforests.
For the Makowskis, supporting the ecosystem was just as important as protecting their home.
“We’re just trying to do our part with having the natural shoreline, the trees, and not putting pesticides out there,” Sandi Makowski said. “We’re trying to make it as healthy as possible, and it’s worked for us.”
To learn more, to purchase mangroves or get involved, visit SaveTheIRL.org or call 321-725-7775.