Listen.
That’s an alarm sounding on the west end of Perico Island.
A Harbour Isle resident is raising concerns about construction work taking place in the mangroves on Perico, as reported in this issue of the newspaper by journalist Kathy Prucnell.
But the city of Bradenton apparently isn’t dispatching any aid to the resident’s call.
Developer Michael Neal of Neal Communities has plans for four single-family homes on 3.46 acres of the island, where the Neal family trust owns about 40 acres of shoreline on Anna Maria Sound.
Disputes over the environmental impact of the Neal project have gone on for years. Most recently, Perico resident Debbie Wilcox turned to the city of Bradenton to appeal a permit that cleared the way for construction work — or destructive work — in the mangroves. (See story page 26).
Some facts about the tropical mangroves provided by the nonprofit environmental group Conservation International and the Nature Conservancy include:
• Mangrove forests exist on the coasts of 118 tropical and subtropical countries, totaling more than 85,000 square miles — roughly the size of Arkansas.
• The United States has about 1,500 square miles of mangroves — located almost entirely in Florida.
• Mangroves can be up to 10 times more efficient than terrestrial ecosystems at the absorption and long-term storage of carbon, making them a critical solution in the fight against climate change.
• Mangroves, with their thick, impenetrable roots, provide natural buffers against storm surges.
• Fish flock to mangroves, which provide habitat for thousands of marine species, from 1-inch gobies to 10-foot sharks. In Florida, mangroves provide nursery territory for shrimp, crab, redfish, snook and tarpon.
Yes, mangroves are mighty miracles of nature, thriving in conditions that would kill most timber to create buffers against rising seas, reduce erosion, provide nesting sites for birds and much more.
But they can’t thrive in the conditions created by some developers in Florida. Mangrove forests once bordered the coasts and surrounded estuaries, but many have been lost to development, as well as water pollution from herbicides and pesticides.
And globally in the past half-century, 50% of the mangroves have been lost. If the trend continues, mangroves could be gone within the next 100 years.