Our nation’s coasts are home to almost 40% of the U.S. population and many of our urban communities. Continued population growth along the coasts, and urbanization pose challenges and opportunities for coastal and urban conservation. Learn in this session how the University of Puerto Rico and the nonprofit organization, Protectores de Cuencas are restoring and conserving coastal ecosystems for resilient communities in Puerto Rico while helping the next generation gain valuable skills and certification in ecological restoration.

1. Strengthening the Resilience of Communites
to Extreme Weather in Puerto Rico
through the Ecological Restoration of
Coastal Ecosystems.
Robert J. Mayer Ph.D., CERP
Universidad de Puerto Rico en Aguadilla
Vida Marina: Center for Conservation and Ecological Restoration
robert.mayer@upr.edu
(787) 890-2681 x 2295

2. Dunes are found on 13 coastal municipalities
on the north coast of Puerto Rico.
47.8% of those dunes are found in Isabela, Dorado and Loiza.
Isabela Dorado Loiza

3. Coastal dunes in Puerto Rico serve as habitat for
important biota

4. They also play an important role in protecting
lives and primary infrastructure from extreme
weather

5. Secret Spot, Isabela
Many of these dunes were very impressive
and near world renowned surfing beaches

6. Dunes in Puerto Rico have many threats and have
been damaged, degraded and destroyed by
human action

7. Secret Spot Beach, Isabela
Many of the sites still have heavy traffic of
all-terrain vehicles.
Destroys stabilizing vegetation preventing dunes from forming
Compaction of the sand, altering the habitat of many species of
animals including diatoms, crabs and sea turtles

8. Poza de Teodoro, Isabela, Puerto Rico (2007)
As a result of these threats the dunes on the
north coast of Puerto Rico are in a very
fragile state
Increase in the vulnerability of our coastal communities to
extreme weather and other effects of climate change.
Habitat loss

9. Hurricane María - September 20, 2017
Recent storms severely damaged our already
fragile coast

11. Random beach accesses, on primary dunes, are
a major threat to their integrity and cause problems.

12. Random beach accesses
cause a reduction in
vegetation cover that
makes the dunes more
susceptible to erosion.
Puts primary infrastructure, property and
lives in danger in the event of strong
wave action.
PR-187, Loiza Puerto Rico

13. Storms have also recently displaced large
volumes of sand away from our dune systems.
There are no relocation programs for displaced sand in Puerto Rico

14. Our dune restoration work has six steps
Select the sites to be restored - Coastal Resilience
Evaluation and Siting Tool (NFWF) and other tools
Capture of aerial imagery (UAS) to asses
the condition of the sites and perform a
baseline inventory
Process and analyze aerial imagery using
photogrammetry software. Develop
a reference ecosystem.

15. Coastal Resilience Evaluation and Siting Tool (CREST)

16. Set restoration targets, goals and objectives and then
make recommendations or “prescriptions” for the ecological
restoration of each of the sites.
Implement project and
collect data
Planning and implementation.
Monitoring and adaptive
maintenance

17. Puerto Rico
Isabela
Camuy Hatillo Arecibo Manatí
Dorado
Luquillo
• End of Pedro Albizu Campos St.
• End of Monte de Oca St.
• Haudimar housing complex
• Golondrinas Beach
• West Secret Spot Beach
• Breach between S. Spot and Middles
• Breach on Middles Beach
• Poza de Teodoro Beach
• Shore Island Beach
• Pozo Brujo
• Bajura sites
• Villa Pesquera
• Reserva Natural Finca Nolla
• Urbanización Costa Norte
• Jarealito
• Maranto
• Poza de las mujeres
• Mar Chiquita
• Caracol
• El Único
•
• Reserva Natural Corredor Ecológico del Noroeste
Jarealito, Arecibo
Loiza
• Road PR-187
Culebra
Our dune restoration work is impacting multiple sites on 9 municipalities
along the north coast of Puerto Rico and Culebra

18. We use an RTK GPS enabled Unoccupied Aerial System
(UAS) to capture aerial imagery of the selected sites.
Images were analyzed using photogrammetry software
≈ 0.05 km2
Point cloud grid
≥ 30 minutes of flight time
≈ 500 images
Each high accuracy mission:

19. Contour map of Pedro Albizu street in Barrio Bajuras, Isabela Puerto Rico with elevation intervals
of 1 meter.
We then generate maps and models from that
imagery.

20. Gray Scale Digital Surface Models (DSM) of the
end of Pedro Albizu Campos St. in Isabela.

21. This allows us to analyze each site both from the
ground and from the air.
Pedro Albizu street in Barrio Bajuras, Isabela Puerto Rico

22. Land cover/land-use analysis of anthropogenic
impacts
Maranto Beach, Arecibo Puerto Rico
This allows us to collect baseline data that is critical for monitoring implementation and
effectiveness.

23. We use the Sample Point application to determine
percent vegetation cover and other parameters.

24. Metrics
Shoreline position
Beach width
Elevation
Volume
Shore face
Backshore
Dune width
Dune height
Dune volume
Sand grain size
We use RTK technology and photogrammetry
software to measure important aspects of the
dunes being restored.

25. Dune and beach metrics

27. We want to return these ecosystems to
their historical trajectory
We design our projects to be effective, efficient and engaging
We harness any “remaining potential of species to regenerate” to
establish a self-organizing ecosystem.
We undertake more intensive interventions when this
regeneration potential has been depleted

28. Vida Marina is the Center of Conservation
and Ecological Restoration of the University
of Puerto Rico
Operated by undergraduate research
students and 8 full time employees that
do multiple tasks related to our ecological
restoration projects.

29. Universidad de Puerto Rico
Aguadilla

30. We install boardwalks to re-direct foot traffic away from
sensitive areas of the dune

31. Marbela Casa de Playa, Isabela

32. Work is done under the supervision of coastal engineer
Dr. Patricia Chardón
Pedro Albizu Campos St., Isabela

33. Golondrinas beach, Isabela

34. Shacks Beach, Isabela

35. We promote the natural accumulation sand that is
transported by the wind

36. July 7, 2018
November 8, 2018
Using biomimicry matrices has several advantages
to using traditional sand accumulation barriers
(sand fences)
Uniform accumulation of sand
Wider accumulation patterns
Resistant to storm surge and
strong wave action
Low disruption of matrix
compared to pallets or fencing
Easily re-adjusted
Lighter
Protects recently planted
vegetation from sand blasting
Cost effective

37. Canavalea rosea
(Beach Bean)
Sesuvium portulacastrum
(Sea Purslane)
Vegetation is used for dune stabilization

38. Two weeks of sand accumulation in Poza de Teodoro, Isabela

40. Finca Nolla Nature Reserve, Camuy

41. Vacia Talega, Loiza

42. Information signs
Barrio Bajuras, Isabela

44. El pisar las dunas y caminar fuera de los paseos de
madera pone en riesgo a esta comunidad.
Respeta a las personas que viven aquí usando los paseos de madera. No pises las dunas ni camines
por pasadisos en la misma. Proteje la vegetación para que la arena se acumule y pueda proteger vidas.
Reporta cualquier daño a estas estructuras al cuerpo de vigilantes del DRNA al (787) 724-5700 o a Vida Marina (787) 890-2681 x 2295

46. Group of volunteers from CUNY. 2020
We propagate all our plant material in
our own greenhouse

48. This has inspired K-12
students to develop science
fair projects related to this
technique
Esteban O. Barreto

49. Site location:
End of Pedro Albizu Campos in Barrio Bajuras
Isabela, Puerto Rico.
We have been observing very positive results, in
some of the sites, in a short period of time.

50. The dune was totally devastated in this area and
the sand was relocated with heavy machinery to
form an artificial dune
Pedro Albizu street in Barrio Bajuras, Isabela Puerto Rico

51. Pre Project
March 14, 2018

52. Pre Project
March 14, 2018

53. Human tracks, Dog tracks Iguana tracks Bike tracks Horse tracks Bird tracks
Mid Project
March 15, 2019

54. Post extreme weather event
February 27, 2020
Date of installation = July 2019

55. Current
March 22, 2021

56. Current
March 22, 2021

57. We can say this ecosystem is on a self-organizing
trajectory to full recovery

58. July 2019

59. Recovery wheel and five - star system
Uses 6 ecosystem attributes to
visually communicate progress
Site and scale specific
Describes an ecosystem that
is on a self organizing trajectory
to full recovery

60. Finca Nolla Protected Area, Camuy.
2013

61. Finca Nolla Protected Area, Camuy.
2013

62. Finca Nolla Nature Reserve, Camuy.
2014

63. Aerial image of the Loiza coast showing segments of primary dune that will be restored in the proposed project (yellow lines). The length of these segments is 337 m and
6,647 m.
We have recently identified a total of 125 sites along road PR-187 in Loiza, as high priority areas that
need to be restored in order to increase the resilience of local communities.
There are more sites that need to be restored along the
north coast of the main island as well as in the small
island of Culebra.

64. 18.44783o
N - 65.89607o
W
Wide pathway on dune that will act as a water inlet in storms and cause flooding on PR-187
and damage to primary infrastructure. The area is next to an abandoned small concrete
structure. There are several houses across the street from this breach.
Site 5, Loiza, PR
Recommendations
Boardwalk = 40 m
Exclusion fence = 13 m
Biomimicry matrix
Vegetation
Information signs = 2
This area has a wide beach on the fore
dune area that will be stabilized
with biomimicry and re-vegetation.
Additional sites that need to be restored

65. Global Earth Partnership
We are spreading the word about the importance of
dune restoration with our environmental education
component.

66. Train the Trainer – Teacher Workshop, Loiza, Puert Rico

69. Most of our mangrove ecosystems were degraded by
recent storms

72. 20 (7.2”)
19 (4”)
15 (3”)
13 (3”)
6 (2”)
15 (2”)
5 (4”)
10 (3”)
20 (14.2”)
20 (13.5”)
20 (14”)
20 (16”)
20 (15”)
20 (3.8”)
20 (3.8”)
20 (9.8”)
20 (10”)
20 (11”)
20 (12.5”)
20 (9”)
20 (12”)
1/21/2022
1/14/2022
20 (6”)
35 (8”)
30 (11”)
18 (1”)
35 (11”)
6 (1”)
25 (13”)
21 (8”)
25 (11”)
20 (9.5”)
20 (12”)
20 (8”)
Piezometer 1 (5”)
1/21/2022
Piezometer 2 (12.5”)
Piezometer 3 (9.5”)
Piezometer 4 (12”)
Piezometer 5 (9.5”)
1/21/2022
AR1
AR2
AR4
AR3

73. The ultimate goal of Vida Marina is to transfer our
experience and techniques to other parts of the
Caribbean
Contributing to increasing the resilience of the Caribbean to strong
more frequent storms and other effects of climate change

75. Thanks for helping us make our communities and habitats
more resilient to extreme weather and other
effects of climate change.