Nature-based: Miami

South Florida was home to expansive cypress swamps, verdant mangrove stands, and vibrant coral reefs. This nexus of tropical ecosystems, both terrestrial and marine, supported a thriving, biodiverse landscape rich in natural resources.

Native landscapes and natural resources offer so many social, environmental, and economic benefits! They keep our coastal community and infrastructure safe, by mitigating wind and wave energy from storms, stabilizing the shorelines, and reducing erosion.

They support ecological biodiversity, provide native habitat, and support crucial water and nutrient cycles. Our local wetlands filter freshwater that recharges the Biscayne Aquifer, which is the sole source of freshwater for most South Floridians.

They improve human health and wellbeing, by regulating our climate, reducing urban heat, and managing stormwater from rainfall, king tides, and other coastal and inland flooding. They regulate air and water quality and sequester carbon, reducing the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. They provide us with aesthetic pleasure, inspiration, and spaces for recreation and spiritual practice.

The Miami area was a popular destination in the early 1900s and it quickly developed. Wetlands were leveled and waterways were dredged to make way for this booming urban metropolis. Urban development fragmented and erased South Florida's natural landscape, and placed its native species and natural cycles under stress.

The quality of our resources is crucial to the health, wealth, and safety of our communities. We rely on our resources for so many things, like food and fresh water, coastal protection, and climate regulation. Real estate and the Port of Miami, both huge economic drivers, rely on natural resources like sweeping ocean views and access to coastlines and waterways.

Rising seas, higher temperatures, and greater storm threats, will only increase with our changing climate. Miami's ability to withstand and recover from these challenges is dependent on access to healthy natural resources.

Parks exist at a variety of scales, from small urban areas and pocket parks to expansive national parks like the Everglades or Biscayne Bay. Parks provide public green space for gathering, community development, recreation, leisure, education, and health and wellbeing. They provide habitat, regulate air and water quality, sequester carbon, mitigate stormwater, and reduce urban heat and noise pollution. Some park designs include other nature-based solutions like community gardens, bioswales, native gardens, hybrid infrastructure, and more. Parks can foster economic development, change neighborhood aesthetics, increase adjacent property values, and spur gentrification. Miami is home to numerous terrestrial and aquatic parks that provide natural space and other amenities for our communities to enjoy.

Floodable parks are designed with fluctuating water levels in mind. They can manage inland and coastal flooding alike, and offer recreational spaces during dry times. These parks are typically planted full of native, flood-tolerant species that help manage the impacts of stormwater. Park features often include stormwater retention infrastructure, raised walkways, and wetland wildlife.

Preserves and designated conservation areas protect and manage native landscapes. The County runs a program called Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL), which purchases and manages land throughout the county to protect our endangered landscapes, including pine rockland, hardwood hammock, and freshwater and saltwater wetlands. Miami is also home to the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, which is the only large, subtropical, protected bay in the continental US.

Living shorelines represent the intersection between terrestrial and marine environments. Beach dunes, seagrass beds, mangrove forests, and coral reefs are all examples of living shorelines. These coastal ecosystems work together to provide a network of socio-ecological benefits.

Native beach dunes mitigate coastal erosion by trapping and stabilizing sand. They provide coastal habitat, cycle nutrients, manage stormwater, protect the coastline.

Sea grass beds are master carbon sequesterers. They also oxygenate coastal waters, control coastal erosion, and provide nursery habitat to commercially important fish species.

Mangroves are touted for their abilities to slow wind and wave energy to stabilize and protect the coastline. Mangroves also help regulate air quality, water quality, they recharge the groundwater, and quickly sequester carbon. They offer tangible benefits like food, wood, charcoal, tannins, medicines, and even honey.

Hybrid shorelines utilize a combination of natural and engineered elements. Living seawalls, for example, pair conventional seawalls with mangroves to derive a unique combination of benefits. The mangroves sequester carbon and provide important aquatic and terrestrial habitat, while the seawalls help maintain navigable canals and boat docking areas.

Coral reefs provide tangible benefits like food, biochemicals, genetic resources, and other material goods. They help monitor our water quality, regulate our climate, and protect our coastlines. Research shows they can dissipate 97% of wave energy! Coral reefs also offer tons of social benefits like place-making, place attachment, recreation, tourism, education, spirituality, inspiration, cultural heritage, social cohesion, and charisma that inspires environmental stewardship and marine conservation.

South Florida is known for its vast quantity of artificial reefs, from shipwrecks and underwater parks to reef balls and concrete designs. Artificial reefs namely provide habitat for fisheries and opportunities for ocean recreation like fishing and wreck-diving. Some structures lean ecologically, with designs that encourage coral settlement or habitat construction. Other concrete structures gear toward social benefits, like memorials, artistic sculptures, and underwater parks fit for divers or snorkelers.

Community gardens provide a unique set of social benefits compared to other nature-based solutions. They can alleviate urban food deserts, foster community building, encourage participatory planning, and develop a sense of place. They provide a platform for a range of wellbeing benefits, knowledge exchange, and education. Last but not least, community gardens provide many known tangible benefits like food, medicine, freshwater, and ornamentals like flowers.

Rainwater gardens, also called bioswales, are urban gardens that capture and retain storm water. Their designs implement small retention ponds that are filled with drainage material and a layer of soil. The soil provides a planting space that is perfect for hardy native species. This type of infrastructure allows retains water and allows it to slowly percolate into the earth, which mitigates flooding. Bioswales are typically installed in comparatively low elevation areas where water collects, or have curbs designed to direct runoff into the garden. Bioswales can be more effective in geographic areas with a low water table, unlike Miami.

Rooftop gardens are a great addition to urban spaces. They reduce the urban heat island effect and insulate buildings to reduce the energy needed for heating and cooling. They provide habitat for urban pollinators, reduce noise pollution, and intercept rainfall to mitigate storm water. They are not very common in South Florida since we experience tropical storms and hurricanes. However, they could be particularly useful in a place like Miami to harvest freshwater and mitigate stormwater impacts.

One great local example is the vibrant and thriving native green roof at the Frost Science Museum. It has deep gardens beds planted chock-full of native species like wild lime and sea lavender.

Street trees are small scale solutions, that can provide large scale benefits. They create shade, reduce urban heat, and improve neighborhood walkability. Shade provides energy savings by reducing the energy needed to heat and cool our buildings. Trees intercept rainwater, mitigating stormwater impacts and reducing flooding. Tree-lined streets change neighborhood aesthetics, reduce wind and noise pollution, and create a sense of place, which can increase property values.

Larger trees tend to provide more abundant benefits, but young trees still provide habitat, sequester carbon, regulate air quality, and provide health and wellbeing benefits.