These students are creating wetlands to help the planet

Hunts Point Express, November 2021

In the South Bronx, students committed to helping the planet are developing essential water features along the Bronx River — tidal wetlands. 

The project is managed by Rocking the Boat, a Hunts Point education center that focuses on river science and other environmental teachings. Some participants learn boat-building skills and practice on the river.

Students in its environmental program have begun restoring what once was a natural wetland in their own backyard, the Hunts Point Riverside Park shoreline. As it is now, the riverbank is mostly mud with some native grass. Rocking the Boat wants to change that. 

In mid-October, the students were plunging wooden planks into the mud to help newly installed “coir” logs from sliding into the river. The large cylindrical objects help prevent grass from eroding on the sloped bank. While monitoring the river’s pH, nitrogen, oxygen and other levels, the students switched gears to wiring around the logs for added security. 

There are several types of wetlands, but New York City is home to mostly tidal wetlands, which are marshy and mostly flat. The biological features are usually found along shorelines and are often home to unique species of animals and plants. Zebra mussels, worms and other small animals that thrive in wetlands can attract birds to the areas. 

The city has lost roughly 85% of its saltwater wetlands and 99% of its freshwater wetlands since colonization, according to a Department of Parks and Recreation 2020 report. Some reasons behind wetland disappearances are industrialization, erosion, invasive species and flooding.

More attention is being paid to wetlands in recent years because large tidal wetlands with rooted plants can lessen the impact from storms because of tall grass and trees. 

“In that sense, they are buffers and can protect upland communities from a storm surge, or in the case of heavy rain, or wind-driven water,” explained Andrew Genn, senior vice president for ports and transportation in the city’s Economic Development Corp. 

“A wetland has the ability to knock down that energy and helps disperse it,” Genn said. 

Each week, students monitor the Bronx River water and check on their developing wetland. As the sun was setting at the Hunts Point Riverside Park, Raven, a student apprentice who hopes to study textile production, said the program opened her eyes to a side of the Bronx she hadn’t seen before. 

“It’s just like a hidden gem in the Bronx, I’d never thought of something so beautiful between two landfills, like it’s crazy,” Raven said.  The program asked that students’ last names not be disclosed. 

Raven and other students in the environmental program at Rocking the Boat also maintain wetlands at Waterwash ABC Park and Soundview Park in the Bronx. 

By next summer, they hope their work on the wetland will be rooted and attract wildlife to the area.