Florida Keys AP Co-hosts Intro to Mangrove Restoration at Local Library

The Big Pine Key Library recently traded quiet reading corners for garden soil as local home-school students gathered for a special “Mangrove Propagule” educational event. Hosted by the Florida Keys Aquatic Preserves team, in partnership with the nonprofit Coastlove, students worked on potting their own little mangroves while learning all about their importance in the environment. The newly potted red mangrove propagules have joined the Coastlove Mangrove Nursery Farm in Summerland Key, where they will be carefully monitored and grown until they are strong enough to be transplanted into local restoration sites across the Keys, helping to rebuild ecosystems and to improve coastal protection.