DURHAM, North Carolina – At the moment, Audubon North Carolina and the Currituck Sound Coalition introduced the discharge of a landmark Marsh Conservation Plan that identifies the complicated net of threats going through Currituck Sound and affords a blueprint of how finest to guard and restore this invaluable coastal ecosystem for wildlife and other people.
The in depth freshwater marshes of Currituck Sound are a globally uncommon ecosystem and supply habitat to all types of wildlife. Audubon’s science reveals the sound is among the many most essential locations for birds on the earth—the area is a formally designated Necessary Chook Space—and will function a stronghold for species because the local weather adjustments. These similar wetlands additionally help human communities by filtering water, serving as a buffer in opposition to erosion and flooding, and supporting a thriving recreation financial system.
However whilst new analysis helps us higher perceive the ecology of the sound, its marshes are slipping away at a fee of 70 acres per yr. The area faces elevated erosion, encroaching improvement, and one of many quickest charges of sea degree rise on the Atlantic coast. The Currituck Sound Coalition is working to supply a path towards a wholesome, resilient future for the sound and the wildlife and individuals who rely on it.
“There aren’t many locations left the place you’ll be able to see marsh all the best way to the horizon, and even that’s altering in Currituck Sound,” mentioned Cat Bowler, Coastal Resilience Program Supervisor at Audubon North Carolina. “No single group or group can reply to those threats alone. That’s why the coalition shaped, to give you a plan and a shared imaginative and prescient for what a resilient future can appear to be for the ecosystem.”
The Marsh Conservation Plan and the Currituck Sound Coalition are a part of Audubon’s rising coastal resilience work based mostly out of the Donal C. O’Brien, Jr. Sanctuary at Pine Island, positioned on the sound. Companions within the Currituck Sound Coalition embrace the Albemarle-Pamlico Nationwide Estuary Partnership, Audubon North Carolina, Coastal Research Institute, Chowan College, Currituck County, Geese Limitless, North Carolina Coastal Reserve and Nationwide Estuarine Analysis Reserve, Nationwide Wildlife Refuge Affiliation, North Carolina Coastal Federation, North Carolina Sea Grant, The Nature Conservancy, City of Duck, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and North Carolina Wildlife Sources Fee.
Positioned between the North Carolina mainland and the Outer Banks, Currituck Sound spans 153 sq. miles and hosts an unbelievable array of biodiversity, due largely to its recent water and shallow depth. However these attributes additionally make it weak.
As seas rise and saltwater strikes inland, it kills off marsh grass and different vegetation. On the similar time, wind and waves drive erosion of the marsh. These damaging forces will solely worsen as storms turn into extra frequent and intense.
The coalition developed the Marsh Conservation Plan, with help from a $98,000 grant from the North Carolina Environmental Enhancement Grant (EEG) Program, to establish these threats and supply options. Many organizations and companies are already doing essential work to revive and shield the sound. The plan pulls collectively this present work, and identifies new options and gaps in present data.
Methods embrace conserving present marshes in addition to figuring out and defending areas that might turn into wetlands sooner or later as seas rise and the sound adjustments. The technical time period for this phenomenon is “marsh migration.” These efforts ought to prioritize locations which have the twin good thing about defending communities from flooding and creating prime quality wildlife habitat, in accordance with the plan.
Growing progressive strategies to revive degraded marsh is one other technique recognized within the plan. Teams have already begun planning pilot initiatives for marsh restoration, including work at Audubon’s Pine Island Sanctuary. These embrace utilizing dwelling shorelines to mitigate erosion and making use of skinny layers of sediment to the marsh floor to assist it preserve tempo with sea degree rise over time.
“Coastal ecosystems are dynamic by nature, and that is very true for a freshwater sound separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a slender barrier island,” Bowler mentioned. “We need to ensure that Currituck Sound and the birds, fish, and individuals who rely on it are in a position to adapt to the adjustments which might be coming, whilst we work to cut back probably the most urgent and speedy threats.”
“As our group faces the challenges of a altering surroundings and sea degree rise, the City of Duck has set a course to turn into a mannequin for sustainability and coastal resilience,” mentioned Joe Heard, Director of Group Improvement, City of Duck. “We significantly recognize the help of the Currituck Sound Coalition and steering from the Marsh Conservation Plan as our group designs and implements nature-based options that profit the surroundings, financial system, and social material of the group,”
“Lack of marshes and adjustments in uplands of Mackay Island and Currituck Nationwide Wildlife Refuges bordering the Currituck Sound displays the adjustments pushed by sea-level rise,” mentioned Mike Bryant, Nationwide Wildlife Refuge Affiliation Regional Consultant for NC & SC. “Sustaining the migratory hen habitat values related to these refuges is important to assembly each the refuges’ functions and the mission of the Refuge Affiliation. We recognize Audubon’s management and the collaboration of the Coalition. Each the method and the product meet the necessity of bringing everybody collectively to kind a sensible, science-based plan of motion to successfully take care of the challenges in our future. A resilient and sustainable Currituck Sound ecosystem will assist guarantee these refuges can meet their objective.”
“The creation of the Marsh Conservation Plan was really a collaborative effort by many companions,” mentioned Sarah Spiegler, Coastal Resilience Specialist, North Carolina Sea Grant. “Continued coordination and collaboration shall be essential in defending these particular locations in northeast North Carolina, and all through our coast.”
“Currituck Sound and its wetlands present a singular ecosystem on the east coast, and Audubon and the Coalition members have made important progress within the improvement of this plan to assist shield and restore our Estuary of Nationwide Significance,” mentioned Dr. William Crowell, Director, Albemarle-Pamlico Nationwide Estuary Partnership.
“The Marsh Conservation Plan advantages the general well being and resilience of coastal marsh wetlands and habitats of Currituck Sound,” mentioned Rebecca Ellin, Program Supervisor, North Carolina Coastal Reserve and Nationwide Estuarine Analysis Reserve. “Understanding the place and the way this crucial habitat is weak, and creating a collaborative proactive method to managing these assets, this plan and future practices will assist counteract a few of these vulnerabilities, in the end leading to a stronger extra sustainable surroundings within the Currituck Banks Reserve and all through the Currituck Sound.”
“Currituck Sound’s marshes are crucial for sustaining the area’s pure and human communities,” mentioned Dr. Bo Dame, Professor of Biology & Bodily Science, Chowan College. “The pure surroundings that pulls individuals to the world and is on the coronary heart of the area’s tradition is essentially based mostly on the persistence of an abundance of wholesome marshes. Based mostly on the freshest science and understanding of coastal processes, this plan outlines the most important threats, identifies gaps in data, and offers beneficial actions. It’s a invaluable useful resource for coverage makers, useful resource managers, researchers, educators, and anybody involved in defending and sustaining these essential wetlands.”
“By collectively working collectively to preserve and shield these essential wetlands in Northeast NC we are able to retain this distinctive function of Currituck Sound for future generations,” mentioned Lora Eddy, Group Resilience Specialist, The Nature Conservancy. “One group or particular person can not deal with this alone and with this plan directing our work we are able to all contribute to preserving the sound’s iconic function— marshes waving inexperienced and golden alongside the shoreline as waterfowl glide overhead.”
“The Currituck Sound and its marshes are tremendously essential, not solely to the historical past of Currituck County but additionally to its current and future generations,” mentioned Laurie LoCicero, Planning Director, Currituck County. “We’re a coastal group with a dynamic surroundings and the Marsh Conservation Plan will present invaluable enter for efficient decision-making because the county continues to develop. The Currituck Sound Coalition is a good companion in serving to us keep the vitality of the Currituck Sound.”
Media Contact: Ben Graham, ben.graham@audubon.org
About Audubon North Carolina
Audubon North Carolina, a state program of the Nationwide Audubon Society, has workplaces in Durham, Boone, Corolla, and Wilmington. Be taught extra at www.nc.audubon.org and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The Nationwide Audubon Society protects birds and the locations they want, as we speak and tomorrow. A nonprofit conservation group since 1905, Audubon works all through the Americas utilizing science, advocacy, training, and on-the-ground conservation. Be taught extra at www.audubon.org and on Fb, Twitter and Instagram @audubonsociety.
