Naples Community Foundation gives $30K to help with climate change

The Collier County Foundation has given tens of thousands of dollars to help the community better understand the impacts of climate change and sea level rise.

Much of Collier’s shoreline has eroded over the past several decades as sea level rise (documented by the USGS for the past 100 years) and frequent and strong tropical storms and hurricanes have chipped away at the coast.

The foundation recently gave a $30,000 grant to the Naples Botanical Gardens to enhance the facility’s ability to teach visitors about impacts caused by climate change and how coastal resilience efforts can help.

“The grant award focuses on the garden’s efforts to educate the public on the role of well-planted beach dunes and effective stormwater management helping to strengthen coastal resilience in Southwest Florida,” said Britt Patterson-Weber, vice president of education and interpretation at the garden. “This work is vital to both the environment and the region’s tourism economy, as it directly addresses beach erosion, stormwater pollution, and the growing impacts of severe storms.”

Several major tropical systems have hit the Collier County area over the past two decades.

Hurricanes Wilma, Irma, Ian, Charley and even unnamed storms have impacted this coastline in the past 22 years.

More: Scientists: Fort Myers, Naples on par with global sea level rise

“With more than half of Collier’s 20.6 miles of coastline classified as severely eroded, this work takes on prime importance,” Patterson-Weber said.

Collier County is the southernmost county on the west coast that is developed.

Part of Monroe is south of Collier, but that county is mostly centered around the Florida Keys.

From Naples to the Everglades, parts of Collier’s coastline are ailing

Collier County is also home to the northern part of Everglades National Park, a 1.5-million-acre park that was the first national park to be preserved for ecological purposes.

Barrier islands there have changed greatly in recent years, with some smaller islands being reduced to a sandbar.

Beaches that once faced the Gulf now face inland, on some islands, and much of the coastal mangrove trees have been stripped of vegetation or had the ground beneath their roots removed by storm surge.

The city of Naples is a low-lying, affluent community in Collier, with homes there sitting 6 to 7 feet above sea level.

Chad Gillis is an environmental reporter and can be reached on Facebook or by emailing cgillis@usatco.com.