Advancing salt marsh restoration for coastal resilience: a learning exchange

Abstract

A multidisciplinary group of salt marsh professionals from Maine to Virginia participated in a collaborative learning exchange to improve restoration for the overall health and resilience of coastal wetlands. This was an unprecedented forum through which participants representing different geographies, backgrounds, and roles in salt marsh management were able to share and learn from one another to develop the best available restoration methods for on-the-ground projects that address multiple benefits. By including mosquito control agencies, restoration practitioners, regulatory agencies, academic researchers, and conservation organizations in the learning exchange, we developed an understanding and acceptance of different approaches. Regulators learned about project ideas and contributed to project designs in early development stages. Collaborating while engaged in on-the ground projects enabled participants to implement lessons learned in real time. Field trips to restoration sites at different stages of development allowed a greater and more fluid exchange of ideas and practical implementation advice. Practitioners leveraged resources and developed new collaborations. Lessons learned and shared through this faster and more flexible forum will inform the design, implementation, and monitoring of restoration projects across the region and improve overall marsh health and resilience in the face of climate change. Learning exchanges like this should be used more frequently to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of coastal restoration particularly when there is a windfall of cash and a short window of opportunity such as with post-disaster federal spending.

Cap. 21. Noreste. En: La Quinta Evaluación Nacional del Clima

“…ej., castillos de ostras) y la gestión y restauración de los arrecifes de ostras 126,127 de los humedales costeros 128,129,130 . El aprendizaje colaborativo y el intercambio de ideas entre grupos multidisciplinares, incluidos profesionales de marismas salobres, están facilitando la gestión y restauración de las marismas salobres en la región; las técnicas incluyen el uso de tecnología de drones para monitorear las costas vivas y la construcción y evaluación de canales (canales poco profundos y estrechos utilizados para drenar el agua de la superficie de la marisma durante la marea baja) 131,132,133,134 . Otras medidas tienen por objeto gestionar las aguas pluviales y reducir el dióxido de carbono (CO 2 ) para mitigar la acidificación marina 135 .…”