Central Region Restoration & Education
The N.C. Coastal Federation works with numerous partners to link coastal habitat restoration with environmental education in the Central Region. The federation’s education program engages students and adults in projects to protect water quality and restore important coastal habitats. Our program strives to provide opportunities for individuals to take an active role in the stewardship of our coastal waters and habitats. Learn more.
Current Projects
Restoring Salt Marshes Could Lessen Effects of Climate Change
USGS scientists sample soil at North River Farms.
Can restoring salt marshes help lessen the effects of global warming? We aim to find out.
The federation is partnering with the U.S. Geological Survey, and scientists at N.C. State and Duke universities to measure how much carbon from greenhouse gas emissions is being taken up by the plants in our restored salt marshes at North River Farms in Carteret County. It will be the first attempt to measure what effects the restoration of wetlands at the farm might have on climate change.
Salt marsh plants, like all plants, take up or “sequester” carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis, converting it and water to sugar and oxygen. According to the United Nations’ Blue Carbon Report, salt marshes, along with seagrasses and mangroves, are one of the most significant carbon “sinks” on Earth, capturing and storing carbon emissions equal to about half of the carbon dioxide emitted each year by global transportation sources.
Carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is the primary gas responsible for a warming planet. Reducing such emissions and keeping them from reaching the upper atmosphere are central to any strategy for minimizing the effects of climate change.
This new research and partnership will measure greenhouse gases released from the soils at the restored North River Farms site and will relate these measurements to salinity, vegetation type and to the global carbon budget. This work will provide data on carbon sequestration in restored salt marshes that has previously been omitted from national evaluations of carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions.
The wetland restoration site at North River Farms provides an ideal location for measuring the gases in different types of restored habitats, including salt marsh and bottomland hardwood forests. The site is also near natural marshes and forests that can be used for comparing gas emissions between restored and natural areas.
Scientists will install 35 measuring devices in restored and natural salt marshes and bottomland hardwood forest areas at North River Farms. The gas samples will be collected every 45 minutes and will be analyzed for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse.
The survey’s Ecosystems Program is paying for the study.
Students, Teachers at Swansboro School Plant Rain Garden
Teachers from Queens Creek Elementary School in Swansboro were enjoying an educational boat trip on the White Oak River when Brandon Beard hatched an idea. The teachers had asked federation staff to meet and discuss clean-water projects and how best to teach their young students about environmental stewardship. Brandon wanted his third-graders to understand why water quality and the coastal environment are so important, specifically in their day-to-day lives. Having his students do something to help their school and their environment could be the key to reaching them.
Brandon and other teachers began talking to the federation and to the state’s Community Conservation Assistance Program, which provides money for projects to control stormwater, about available options. Rain gardens seemed to be a perfect fit; they are hands-on projects that help with water quality and involve students throughout the school year.
The school decided to put in two rain gardens, with Brandon as the project leader. There were some hurdles with needed paperwork, bad weather and finding local contractors and nurseries that grow, but, in December 2010, the project finally was completed. Students will be planting more perennials and shrubs this March.
Another Exciting Year Planned on Jones Island
 This will be another exciting year to help restore habitat on Jones Island in the White Oak River near Swansboro.
The federation staff will be working with Hammocks Beach State Park to continue projects to restore oyster beds and shoreline. There will be plenty of opportunities to get your feet muddy planting saltmarsh cordgrass, bagging oyster shells and transporting the filled shell bags this winter and spring. From June to August, volunteers will build oyster reefs around the island and begin monitoring the reefs we built last year.
Environmental education programs on the island will be expanded this year to allow people to learn about the salt marsh ecosystem, barrier island ecology, water quality and cultural history. This spring and summer, federation educators and Hammocks Beach park rangers will offer a series of nine marsh cruise programs that will explore the fascinating local estuary.
Throughout much of the summer, federation educators will be conducting programs on barrier island ecology for park visitors on Bear Island and at the Hammocks Beach State Park visitor center. A “touch table” for children will also be available.
Two Jones Island day camps are planned for school children in grades 3-5, one in June and one in July.
Also park rangers and federation staff will guide a couple of 2½ hour kayak trips in the marsh behind Bear Island, one in May and one in September.
Check our regional Events Calendar for dates and times of all events.
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