Ongoing study focuses on the effects ecological disasters and climate change have on Gulf of Mexico restoration projects

Over the summer, the Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering launched a study to determine how events such as climate disasters, oil spills, and long-term environmental changes are affecting environmental restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a news release by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Important restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico are focused on improving water quality, supporting fisheries and recreation areas, and improving protections against flooding. The progress made on these projects are at risk of being destroyed by ecological disasters and tropical storms.

The study is being led by chair of the committee Holly Greening, co-founder of CoastWise Partners and former executive director and senior scientist of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.

Greening said that the study will focus primarily on restoration projects linked to habitat restoration and water quality improvement and that the study will also focus on specific geographic areas within the Gulf, to help emphasize the different challenges that the Gulf States face in designing and implementing restoration projects.

When asked if the report will explore strategies for adapting to natural disasters, Greening said that the committee will be examining how restoration activities might be impacted by sea level rise, increasing hurricane intensity, and other factors in the Gulf. She also said that it will be examining how restoration projects might complement or conflict with each other long term and the trade-offs of choosing one type of habitat restoration over another.

According to Greening the members of the diverse committee will be bringing expertise from a number of disciplines, including coastal and marine ecology, natural resource management, economics, and engineering. Several committee members are based in the Gulf and already have experience with preservation and restoration projects in the region. 

The Committee will aim to produce an actionable, timely report that can be used to inform conclusions and recommendations that will be useful to environmental restoration practitioners and planners within the Gulf states, as well as other organizations interested in habitat restoration.

The report will be released in the fall of 2021.