As part of the restoration project of Las Salinas de Red Cape –which started in March–, the base of the dunes of the wetland system, which faces a problem of uncontrolled flooding that threatens its ecological integrity.
Furthermore, biologists from Federal Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS, in English) – in charge of managing the ecosystem – will seek to create platforms that ground-nesting birds can use even with the floods.
“Las Salinas have been deteriorating from the shore, in the dunes (mounds of sand), which is the part of the project that we are going to restore, mainly”he explained Ana Romandeputy director of the USFWS Caribbean National Wildlife Refuges.
“That part was affected by the different storms, by the different atmospheric events that occurred and have continued to occur in the southwestern part of Puerto Rico. “That is a process that began very abruptly from 2008 to now,” she added.
Initially, the USFWS received a $1.2 million allocation from the federal congress after the passage of Hurricane Maria, in 2017, for the first of three phases of the project, which consisted of planning and analysis. “Bringing the material, that is part of the second phase. The third phase would be when the structure is completed, covering and planting,” explained Román.
The restoration work newly started are financed with an investment of $5 million from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundationreported the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA). The project seeks to improve the biodiversity and ecological functionality of the space, in addition to promoting ecological and educational tourism in the southwest region.
The governor is expected Pedro Pierluisi visit Cabo Rojo this Wednesday and offer more details about the initiative together with representatives of federal and state agencies.
How will it be done?
“You have to bring a rocky material, because the way it is going to be fixed is by reinforcing the base of the dune with some stones between large and small, forming it as if it were a lasagna, trying to compact it as much as possible and reinforcing the structure.” at its base, which is where the energy of the wave has its strength”described the deputy director.
The non-profit organization Watershed Protectors, through a contract with the DRNA, will carry out the restoration work. The entity was selected, according to Román, because it has experience in this type of work. The project would culminate in three years, but in 2024 the process of removing sand from the site to create the base with stones and bringing rock material from local quarries would end.he assured.
“Everything stays in the same place, except the stone that is going to be brought,” he said.
Atmospheric phenomena in recent years have mainly compromised two areas of Las Salinas: Bahía Sucia and Punta Águila, Román stressed. There, the impact on the berms has caused Las Salinas to flood, as the water “enters without control.”
“The dune broke, it became destabilized at the base and what it did was spread the sand. It no longer has that little mountain with vegetation that can offer a natural barrier for the wave to crash and not enter the salt flat area. When that area opens, sand enters, fish enters, everything that can reach the sea area enters.”held.
The work will begin in the Bahía Sucia area, since, from February to August, the little seagull nests in the Candelaria area (near Punta Águila). “We couldn't start with that area, because it would conflict with the project. The trucks would pass through an area that the birds would be using for nesting,” said Román.
Important habitat
The Salinas serve as some of the most important habitats for coastal birds, both in Puerto Rico and in the rest of the world. Caribbeanbecause protected species nest or in Danger of extinctionsaid the USFWS official.
Some birds nest on the ground, which is why they are one of the species most affected when Las Salinas floods uncontrollably.. For this reason, USFWS biologists are looking to build floating wooden platforms that birds can use to make their nests.
Román clarified that this is a measure that is still in the experimental phase.
“These platforms would be floating. They have been worked on Virgin Islands“In our refuges there, but here, in Cabo Rojo, it would be the first time that this measure would be officially used to provide habitat for the species during the project,” he explained.
Apart from impacting the quality of the habitat of the species that depend on Las Salinas, the floods also affect the local salt collection operationone of the oldest industries in Puerto Rico, according to the DRNA.
In 2019, the government issued a emergency situation certification in Las Salinas due to a problem of high tides that affects the wetland system, whose existence is at risk due to the rise in sea level as a result of the climate change.
Wetlands, like Las Salinas, are places that are frequently flooded or have soils saturated with water for considerable periods, which allows vegetation to grow that adapts to those conditions. They are the most threatened ecosystem on Earth, according to the United Nations.