The Cayman Island Department of Environment (DOE) sprear-headed the program to create a red mangrove nursery to replant red mangroves in areas lost to hurricane damage.
Because some areas where stripped of natural “mangrove muck” and were exposed to waves, the mangroves could not restart themselves naturally. The use of small reef ball “mangrove planters” allowed the propagules to stabilized themselves without the mangrove muck and also protected them from floating debris.
A combination of international and local volunteers helped to complete the project. The project successfully planted over 850 red mangrove trees in just two weeks. After the trees reach the appropriate height for their intended final locations they were moved from the nursery and planted to their final destination.
Click the photo to view the gallery for Cayman Island Red Mangrove