Amid changing climate, a preserve in Cortez shields nature and a way of life

Cortez, one of Florida’s last working fishing villages, is two decades into an effort to save a slice of coastal paradise.

FISH Preserve, operated by community non-profit Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage, is one of the last undeveloped bits of coastline along Sarasota Bay.

The roughly 100-acre patch is home to swaths of mangrove wetlands and coastal habitat — natural resources that are lifeblood to the fishing industry.

The conservation land’s environmental value has only grown as development projects eat more of Manatee County’s green space and the threats of climate change to coastal communities loom.

It all started with a little bit of forward thinking by those who work and live in the unique maritime community.

The long road to restoration

The project’s origins go back to 2000, when concerned residents took a chance on saving the land from future development.

“The community took the bold step of jumping on that opportunity, knowing that we had to borrow money to do that,” said retired Sea Grant scientist and FISH board member John Stevely.

In 2005, the land purchase was paid off with money raised entirely from donations and proceeds of the annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival.

The festival will have its 38th outing this weekend, and funds raised now go to the restoration of the land.

The preserve has come a long way from its near scrape with becoming a subdivision and then temporarily serving as a construction dump site, according to Stevely.

New wetlands areas have been created and many invasive plants have been removed.

FISH has gotten grant assistance and joined forces with other local entities, including the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program and Manatee County government, in the course of the project.

But there’s still a long way to go.

Invasives like Australian pine, Brazilian pepper and escaped houseplants still have a strong presence on the preserve, and the flow of tidal waters can be further improved.

FISH is almost set to move into phase three of the land restoration project. According to Stevely, it will entail more invasive species removal and earth moving to create and restore more habitat.

“What we’re trying to do is plant native species while working with the adjoining healthy mangrove fringe, create some shallow water lagoons and increase tidal flushing so that we can plant marsh plants and mangroves that will make this a very productive area,” Stevely said. “It’s a decades-long vision, but eventually we’ll have the whole area restored.”

And with more intertidal habitat should come more baby fish.

In a miniature circle of life, the angler community is restoring land that can help sustain future generations of fish and fishing culture.

Attending the festival is a chance for locals to see the preserve firsthand and learn more about the coastal ecosystem it protects.

The event has become a platform for environmental education through “Dock Talks” organized by Stevely and other researchers, and touch tanks of aquatic life are another popular learning experience.

Offsetting climate change

Diverse green spaces like FISH Preserve can also play a significant role in mitigating the impacts of a changing climate.

Climate change is already impacting Florida, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and so far temperature rise is one of the most noticeable effects.

A body of recent research points out that green spaces like FISH Preserve can significantly offset some of the heat thrown thrown off by highly developed urban and suburban areas.

And while many plant forms are good at holding carbon, preventing it from entering the atmosphere and causing temperature rise, mangroves are particularly adept at it. A 2018 study found that mangrove forests sequestered around 6.4 billion metric tons of carbon worldwide as of 2000 — much higher levels than previously thought.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is looking ahead to help coastal communities prepare for another incoming impact of climate change — sea level rise.

Mangrove communities, like the one that makes up the bulk of the FISH Preserve, can help there, too.

“Coastal resources such as mangroves, salt water marshes and estuaries provide ecosystem services such as water filtration, ground water recharge and wave attenuation, which helps protect developed areas from damage,” the agency says in its guidebook created to help communities adapt to a changing coastal environment.

Protecting the biodiversity and ecosystem services of wetland habitats also becomes more crucial as they continue to disappear.

While the preserve is a work in progress, it is already proving to be a haven for coastal plants and wildlife that are afforded less space than ever before to exist among humans.

On a February evening, small fish flipped in and out of the waters of a shallow pond fringed by mangroves; a great blue heron made for the trees with a snake dangling from its beak; and butterflies like a zebra longwing and common buckeye flitted through the brush.

Eventually, people will be able to regularly enjoy the sights of the preserve as well.

There are plans for walking trails once restoration is complete, Stevely said.

And for those who want get involved in the conservation effort, Stevely says there are plenty of volunteer opportunities.

More can be learned at cortez-fish.org.

This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 5:00 AM.