Saving Our Precious Coastlines
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park Seagrass Restoration
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park and Aquatic Preserve is part of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary located in the waters of Florida Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The park encompasses approximately 10,800 acres of shallow water and tidal channels surrounding the islands of Lignumvitae Key, Indian Key, and Shell Key. Our Keys Restoration Fund team worked with the state park and regulatory agencies to install new channel markers, buoys, and signs to better inform boaters of the extensive shallow seagrass banks and to help prevent propeller scarring and boat groundings. In addition, approximately 10,000 sq. ft. of an unvegetated shallow depression on a seagrass bank along Indian Key Channel was filled to restore elevations needed for natural recruitment of seagrasses. Work was completed in 2022. Monitoring the success of these techniques will help land managers better define management activities that can reduce boating impacts to natural resources in the area.