LCI has worked closely with the Town of Port Royal for the past few years to help protect a cypress wetland found in the downtown area. The wetland is unique in that there are few areas right along our coast that have freshwater cypress wetlands, and it also serves as a natural habitat to handle 80% of the stormwater runoff from downtown Port Royal. This is an extremely valuable ecosystem service as this prevents large volumes of freshwater from being discharged into the salt marsh all at one time. Rapid changes in salinity in the salt marsh can be detrimental to larval shrimp and crabs so it is important to protect our tidal creeks from rapid influxes of stormwater runoff. Please see the video below for a short tour of this new wetland park in downtown Port Royal.
Why do dark skies matter? Why is it important to be able to go outside, look up at the night sky, and see some of the 200 billion stars in our galaxy?
Not only does light pollution degrade the quality of our night skies, but it is harmful to many of the wildlife species that inhabit the lowcountry and beyond. Click below to watch a short video about light pollution and its effects. For more information about the importance of dark skies, visit the GLOBE at night website: http://www.globeatnight.org/
One of LCI's longtime partners, Friends of the Rivers, has launched a new website to act as a clearinghouse for all things environmental in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The website provides links to news articles regarding the environment, education programs, information about our local ecology, and so much more. Called River Smart, the purpose of the site is to promote education, awareness and stewardship in collaboration with individuals, organizations, grassroots groups, land trusts, scientists, governments and non-governmental organizations.
We hope that you will take a moment to visit the site and check out the wealth of information it provides! It is a great resource for longtime residents of the area as well as newcomers, visitors, and local leaders.
