New UF/IFAS Manual Guides DIY Efforts for Sustainable Florida Coastal Restoration
Florida is seeing a surge in “living shoreline” projects, as communities increasingly turn to natural solutions for wave calming and habitat restoration. However, the materials traditionally used for these man-made reefs are not always environmentally friendly or readily available.
To address this, UF/IFAS and Florida Sea Grant have published a new online manual providing step-by-step instructions for creating do-it-yourself prisms and panels that can be arranged to form wave breaks. These open-source, homemade components are crafted from materials easily found at most home improvement stores, making them an accessible option for volunteer groups across the state.
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Savanna Barry, a regional specialized Extension agent with Florida Sea Grant and the UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station, leads the Partnership for Plastic-free Restoration of Oyster Shorelines (PROS) project. This initiative, funded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, aims to find alternatives to the plastic mesh bags commonly used in living shorelines, which can entangle animals and degrade into the environment.
The PROS development team, led by Mark Clark, an associate professor of wetland ecology at UF/IFAS, has developed a new material called jute-reinforced calcium sulfoaluminate (JR-CSA). This strong, fast-setting, and biodegradable cement material has a lower carbon footprint than traditional options and can be molded into various shapes, including the prisms and panels featured in the manual.
“It’s best suited for situations where you need to get a habitat started,” Barry explained. “Then, once the oysters and the marsh grasses are established, the initial structure will fade away, and it becomes a self-sustaining natural area.”
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The manual, a 23-page guide, introduces nature-based solutions, offers detailed instructions for creating panels and oyster shell-filled prisms, provides troubleshooting advice, and suggests arrangements for the finished objects. It also includes a cost breakdown, estimating approximately $21.25 for each panel and $23.33 for each triangular prism. A companion series of online tutorial videos is also available.
Volunteer groups have quickly embraced the new approach, with some adapting the instructions to create unique volcano-shaped mounds. Barry notes the efficiency of group efforts, with some teams building up to 25 prisms in just over two hours.
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