Eco preparation for Rip Curl Pro Day 5; SF Rincon and Vida Marina install more walkways

Today a group of 7 volunteers from the chapter of the Surfrider Foundation in Rincon, Vida Marina at UPRA, Rescate Playas Isabella, and the Rip Curl Planet Foundation installed some more walkways on the western side of the Middles event site.  This work is being done to reduce the impacts of pediatrician traffic on the dunes.  The pathways help by reducing dune erosion in a sustainable and aesthetic way.  Check out the photos of the new walkways below!

 James and I getting to work on the first section. 

 

Jim walking down the new walkway.  

The western walkway

The crew the helped with the on-site effort.  

In addition, we roped off an area on the eastern side of the event site in preparation for the tree planting on Monday, November 1st with local students, SF Rincon, Vida Marina, RPI, and the Rip Curl Planet Foundation.

Jonathan moving plants to a safe keeping spot for our Monday event. 




Angela representing

James roping off the planting areas

Eco preparation for Rip Curl Pro Day 4; SF Rincon and Vida Marina prepare more walkways

Scrambling to finish the last walkway, Jim, Santos, and I work late Tuesday night.  We hope to install the western walkway at Middles tomorrow, Thursday October 28th, with a host of volunteers from Vida Marina, SF Rincon, RPI, and the Rip Curl Planet Foundation.

Eco preparation for Rip Curl Pro Day 3; SF Rincon, Vida Marina, and Rip Curl Planet work at Middles

Yesterday, Saturday October 23rd, a group of volunteers from Surfrider Foundation Rincon, Vida Marina at UPRA, the Rip Curl Planet Foundation, and Rescate Playas Isabela worked together to plant trees and plants at Wilderness, Surfers, and Middles, install protective fencing and walkways to prevent dune erosion, and unite on a cause to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the islands precious natural resources for future generations to come.

If anyone is interested in helping we need more volunteers to help build more walkways and protective fencing, with upcoming plantings, with the on-site recycling effort, and helping to spread the positive environmental message that this work represents. Contact us at salvatrespalmas@surfrider.org

Check out this video from the past 3 events of our effort to help reduce the impacts this event could have on the environment.

Below are some photos from the coastal reforestation effort. This is another initiative inspired by the Rip Curl Planet Foundation and facilitated by SF Rincon. Our chapter is working hard to implement this and many other actions that can help reduce the environmental footprint of this event. These actions transpire into a positive multi-participatory environmental movement to inspire the people of Puerto Rico to work with us towards conservation, protection, and the enjoyment of our oceans, waves, and beaches.
The chapter has put 215 plants in the ground to date as part of our initiative to reduce coastal erosion, stabilize dune habitat, create new habitat, and offset carbon emissions. The next planting is scheduled for November 1st 2010 at Playa Middles at 8 am.

This is a satellite image of Playa Middles with the plants/trees we have planted to date. Note; this satellite images is out dated but still serves as a representation of the exact area we have planted over the past few events. The significance of this is that it reminds us that the morphology of our coastlines are ever changing and necessitates the need for increased dune restoration and coastal reforestation to save our beaches.

This is one of the three planting areas we installed at Wilderness yesterday. These are commonly known as the tropical almond tree or almendra in spanish.

This is one of the groups of volunteers that worked during yesterday's event. This crew planted more than 215 plants in one day! The other crew worked closely with Vida Marina at Middles to install more protective fencing and walkways to deter dune erosion. See photos below.

This is the protective fencing at the western end of the Middles event site. The walkways will be installed later this week in collaboration with Vida Marina and the Rip Curl Planet Foundation.

Here, Angie from Rip Curl, fastens the upper portion of the rope that fences in the walkway. Thanks Angie!


Contact Surfrider Foundation Rincon to learn about ways to help in the upcoming events and during the event window. Email us at salvatrespalmas@surfrider.org.
Surfrider Foundation Rincon

Eco preparation for Rip Curl Pro Day 2; Surfrider Foundation Rincon and Vida Marina work at Middles

Today a crew of 13 activists, with the chapter of Surfrider Foundation in Rincon and representatives of Vida Marina at UPR Aguadilla, helped get over 300 plants/trees that the chapter ordered from the Isabela DRNA vivero to UPR Aguadilla.  The plants are going to be used for a coastal reforestation project at Wilderness, Surfers, and Middles.  The first part of the planting will take place this Saturday at 8 am at Wilderness then Surfers, and lastly Middles.

In addition, the chapter installed some protective fencing to minimize dune and coastal vegetative erosion at Middles today and began preparing some planting areas for the November 1st planting that will take place as a multi-participatory event including Rip Curl, Rip Curl Planet, Plastic Free Ocean, Surfrider Foundation Rincon, DRNA, and area schools.  Contact salvatrespalmas@surfrider.org if your interested in helping.  

Angela taking tally of the more than 300 plants/trees that we received in an order the chapter placed from DRNA. The plants are being kept at Vida Marina's greenhouse at UPR Aquadilla.

 

Before and after shots of one of the areas that we are going to plant based on suggestions from a field biologist at DRNA.  We will be planting this bluff, and other areas, on November 1st. 

This is an example of the walkways we helped Vida Marina build and will be placing between the protective fencing we installed today at Middles.  We are collaborating with Vida Marina from UPR Aguadilla to mobilize these resources and put them into action.   

It is tough to see the difference between this before and after shot but if you look closely you can see the fencing that we installed to prevent dune and coastal vegetation erosion in the middle of the picture. 

This is a more clear shot of the protective fencing.  The walkways will be placed in the middle.  We would like to thank Vida Marina for giving our chapter the opportunity to puts these resources into action. 

Here is the crew that helped make Day 2 of our Rip Curl Pro preparation initiative happen. 

Five Months of Restoration at Playa Marias

Below is a movie created and edited by a chapter volunteer Tsunami Ortiz. The photos and video used in the movie were taken at each of the events. The first event was on August 24th when a dedicated group of volunteers installed 4 of 12 new trash barrels at Playa Marias. The next event was on September 18th, 2009, when a large group of volunteers cleaned the beach and cut down weeds in collaboration with Scuba Dogs. The third event was a shrub/tree planting event on October 24th which amounted in the development of 3 planting beds where over 75 shrubs were planted. A week later the chapter paid for the parking lot to be fixed; $600 dollars went towards fixing the upper and lower portion of the lot using 'tosque.' The last two events were maintenance days on November 11th, and December 19th, 2009. After five months and 7 events the parking lot and coastal area at Playa Marias is looking very sharp. Watch the movie below to see all the dedicated volunteers who helped make it possible.

The next event at Playa Marias is on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010. The event will begin at 8:00 am and go until 12:00 pm. At this event we will be fixing the stakes and string around the beds, watering the plants, pulling weeds, mulching, and cleaning the beach. For more information feel free to email us at salvatrespalmas@surfrider.org. Come help make a difference!

Part 1 of 2; Tree and Shrub Planting Between Marias and Indicators

This past weekend more than 20 volunteers came out to help plant shrubs and trees around the coastal area of Playa Marias. This initiative is a part of our "Sea to Summit" campaign working towards habitat and coastal restoration. Check out the video slideshow below.



Part two of this series will take place on Saturday November 7th from 8 am to noon. We will meet between Marias and Indicators.



A special thanks to Jim Westfall for providing the art.


This work is being done in collaboration with the Department of Natural Resources, the Municipality of Rincon, and HC Wooden Pallets, Inc. We would like to thank them for their generosity in helping in this effort.

Please bring yard tools: shovels, rakes, machetes, and weed wackers. Water will be provided.

Photos of Limpieza Internacional de Costas 2009

Last week a group of more than 20 volunteers came out to clean Playa Marias as part of the International Coastal Cleanup day. The Playa Marias site was one of 6 being cleaned in Rincon, and one of hundreds being cleaned around Puerto Rico; The other sites around Rincon were Sandy Beach, Domes, Steps, the Balneario, and Barrio. All the volunteers enjoyed the time spent and effort put forth to help restore and maintain a better beach environment in Rincon. A feeling of gratification was evident knowing that at the same time volunteers all around the world were working simultaneously (more or less) to improve Earth's coastal habitats. Surfrider Foundation Rincon would like to thank Scuba Dogs for their continued passion towards beach and ocean conservation, the municipality of Rincon for their help, and all of the volunteers that made it truely possible. Thanks!