On June 22-25, 2011, the wetland restoration workshop hosted by Professor Cui Lijuan, of the Institue of Wetland Research, Chinese Academy of Forestry, was held in Beijing, China. Professor Cui, who is an STRP invoted expert, and her colleagues, Wen Xianji (World Wide Fund for Nature, Hong Kong), Zhou Demin (Capital Normal University), Wu Guofeng (Wuhan University), Liu Maosong (Nanjing University), Qin Pei (Nanjing University) and Jiang Ming (Chinese Academy of Sciences) made presentations that addressed a wide range of restoration topics and experiences from a Chinese perspective. More than a dozen of Professor Cui’s students also attended and contributed to the sessions. They are making significant contributions to the future of wetland restoration and management practice and research in China.

The presentations and exercises helped inform the STRP’s current work of determining if the current Ramsar restoration guidance adopted at Ramsar COP8 in 2002 needs updating and/or expanding, by identifying potential target audiences and ascertaining how useful the current guidance may be for tehm. Case studies in China, North America, Europe and Australia were discussed during the workshop. The workshop included visits to several wetland restoration sites around the Beijing area and the Beijing Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre and the Institute of Wetland Research which hosts China’s Wetland Ecology Research Network program at 17 research stations located throughout the country.

Each of the STRP workshops on wetland restoration has provided keen insight into the needs of the target audiences of the guidance, often with similar comments and recommendations from the attendees. The following general wetland restoration issues have emerged:

• Need for a clearer policy statement on wetland restoration and its value and application across government sectors.
• Need for detailed technical guidance for practitioners across the full wetland restoration process, including locally relevant examples of restoration.
• Need to set clear objectives for restoration.
• Importance of demonstration sites as outdoor laboratories, raising awareness and showcasing to policy-makers.
• Importance of translation of guidance into local or regional languages.
• Need for future workshops and information exchange with policy makers, practitioners and researchers.

We warmly thank Professor Cui, her assistants Zhang Manyin and Song Hongtao, and our esteemed colleagues and new friends in China for hosting a very productive workshop. Their leadership in wetland restoration in China is impressive and we look forward to our future collaborations.

Kevin L. Erwin, STRP member klerwin@environment.com or kerwin@fgcu.edu

More on the STRP here

Workshop Images

The Water Management and Wetland Restoration Training Course was originally developed by its lead instructor, Kevin Erwin, in association with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Ducks Unlimited Canada in 1996. Over 300 people from Texas to Ukrainia have completed the 5-day course (1 day in the classroom; 4 days in the field). The training course has been offered annually with the last session held November 15-19, 2010 at the University of Guelph in Kemptville, Ontario. Information on the next session will be provided when available.

This is a hands-on course using the latest technology and practices. The focus is on watershed function and analysis; identifying and developing opportunities for restoration and management; and sustainable development practices such as agriculture.

For further information on the course, visit the Water Management course page on the University of Guelph website.

As part of the Dover, Kohl & Partners project team, Kevin Erwin Consulting Ecologist, Inc. (KECE) provided the technical ecological and environmental planning support including the compilation of  historic and current hydropatterns; development of a priority restoration map; evaluation of mine reclamation standards; evaluation of Lee County’s comprehensive plan; evaluation of wetland protection; and compilation of restoration funding sources.  Click on the following report titles to view:

Prospects for Lee County: Planning for the Density Reduction Groundwater Resource Area

DR/GR Ecological Technical Memorandum

One gallon container grown mangroves were hand planted during a low tide in July 2008. Red mangroves (Rhizophora  mangle) were planted on the water ward edge and white mangroves (Laguncularia racemosa) were planted on the land ward edge of the restoration area. Then black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) were intermixed at the interface between the red and white mangroves. A ten foot wide area bisecting the restoration area was left unplanted to allow for a footpath for the EBTC residents to be able to walk through to reach the beach on the other side of the lagoon.

It wasn’t long after the planting was completed that the condominium manager notified KECE that there were a lot of wading birds frequenting the restoration area. White ibis, snowy egrets, spoonbill roseates, great egrets, little blue herons, and reddis egrets have been seen regularly. The birds attracted the photographers who inadvertently created a new path in the restoration area not realizing the sensitivity of coastal plants, especially the ground cover. The condominium manager spoke with photographers to ask them to enjoy the birds and mangroves without entering the restoration area and showed them the signs that mark the edge of the “No Mowing or Trimming” restoration area.

The annual monitoring conducted by KECE in May 2011, confirmed that the mangrove restoration is well on the way to success. All of the planted white mangroves have survived with many in bloom this year, and only a few of the red and black died. There were numerous naturally recruited seedlings of all three types of mangroves and buttonwood. Other native plants have grown in forming a carpet of salt grass (Distichlis spicata) and glasswort (Salicornia sp.) with an edge of sea oxeye daisies (Borichia sp.), native rushes (Fimbristylis sp.), and railroad vine (Ipomoea pescoprae).

Photo Gallery

From 2005 through early 2009 Kevin Erwin Consulting Ecologist, Inc. (KECE) worked with the ECWCD engineer, AIM Engineering, to provide ecological services to the ECWCD in developing the Lehigh Headwaters Initiative (Initiative). The Initiative was developed by KECE as part of the initial scope for this project, approved by AIM Engineering in 2006. KECE developed and implemented a methodology to model the existing and historical (NSM) water management system using the MikeShe model. Hydrological improvements are now being augmented with the ecological data provided by KECE. This data is now being utilized to  develop and guide future modeling, planning and design objectives, minimizing environmental impacts and identifying opportunities for restoration and enhancement of natural resources within and adjacent to the ECWCD. KECE was able to determine the natural extent of flooding of downstream tributaries and a number ecological engineering designs and projects that would increase storage, improve water quality and restore downstream base flows.

KECE defined the spatial limits of the ecological evaluation study area, which also included areas outside the ECWCD; the Orange River, Hickey’s Creek, Bedman Creek watersheds and lands south of Halfway Pond/Mirror Lakes and SR.82.  The historic and present watershed boundaries of the headwaters area were also determined and defined the scope of ecological evaluations to be undertaken within the ECWCD and within the downstream watersheds and streams. This activity has already resulted in the successful monitoring and evaluation of the Orange River, Harns Marsh, and Hickey’s Creek watersheds and also includes monitoring within systems such as the Orange River, Harns Marsh and the Hickey’s Creek/Greenbriar Swamp complex.

KECE prepared Level 4, Florida Land Use and Cover Classification System (FLUCFCS) maps for the undeveloped lands within the entire study area. This continuing effort provided critical guidance and recommendations relative to future land acquisition scenarios to the ECWCD, Lee County, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, South Florida Water Management District and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The effort in the Hickey’s Creek watershed has resulted in the identification of potential ROMA (Regional Offsite Mitigation Area) concepts and opportunities for redirecting, storing and treating surface water flows. Within the Orange River watershed, mapping has identified opportunities for expanding and redesigning Harns Marsh (Phase I now complete) with the goal of improving base flows and attenuating storm flows on the Orange River where residents had been subject to regular flooding in the past. KECE  determined recent and historic normal seasonal high water levels in wetlands, historic wetlands and streams within the study area to provide data input to the MikeShe model and identified opportunities and constraints for future water management objectives including water storage, water quality improvements and wetland restoration. KECE also evaluated ongoing water quality monitoring being done by several agencies, designed and implemented one master monitoring plan now being cooperatively implemented by the same agencies.

The majority of the cypress slough is now owned by Lee County or the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).  Much of the remainder of the watershed including native uplands and wetlands, its source and quality of water, is controlled by others. The consequences and management implications in regard to land ownership within the SMCS watershed are poorly understood.

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve is ecologically impaired and the current hydropattern in the slough will not allow cypress communities or swamp forest communities to be sustained. The future ecological condition of the slough is unclear.

The SFWMD determined that a more thorough evaluation of the slough and its watershed was appropriate including a long term ecological monitoring effort with the capability to address present and future management activities throughout the SMCS system. The nature and timing of this effort is critical in light of the continued pressure for future land use changes in the entire watershed. At the District’s request KLECE developed a Long Term Ecological Monitoring Plan (LTEMP) that will:

• construct a detailed ecological history of the Slough and its watershed;
• provide an accurate predictive hydrological model;
• provide a conceptual ecological model;
• provide data for determining long term ecological and hydrological trends
• identify targets and processes for ecological restoration, resource management and sustainability.

The monitoring plan focuses on hydrology (groundwater and surface water), vegetation (native and exotic), water quality, biological integrity, soils, fish and wildlife. Monitoring these parameters will allow a real time assessment of the condition of ecological resources and functional capacity of the natural and man-made systems within the study area.

It is anticipated that information such as that gathered from a LTEMP will assist environmental managers and decision-makers in understanding ecological function within SMCS in relation to human influence. Additionally, we expect that LTEM data can be used to develop biological measures or indicators for ecological health and, if measured over time, could be incorporated into large-scale trend assessments elsewhere to determine the changing conditions of southwest Florida’s environment.

For additional information on Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve:

• History of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
• Friends of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
• What is the slough?