The Bocilla Islands Conservancy develops official position papers to inform and guide the community on critical environmental issues affecting our barrier islands. Each paper reflects our commitment to science-based conservation, education, and sustainable stewardship of the Palm, Knight, Don Pedro, and surrounding island ecosystems.
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Bocilla Islands Conservancy Position Paper on Australian Pine Trees
As part of its mission, The Bocilla Islands Conservancy, Inc. (“BICI”) is dedicated to the preservation and protection of the unique natural resources and the quality of life for those who live on the Palm, Knight, and Don Pedro Island ecosystem. This means providing protection for native plant and animal life as well as educating those who visit, live, or work on and around the barrier islands. One issue of primary importance is identification and systematic elimination of invasive or exotic species that threaten native species and otherwise endanger the ecosystem. One such species is the Australian Pine Tree.
The following is the official BICI position on Australian Pine trees on our barrier islands.
The Australian Pine was originally introduced to Florida as a salt-tolerant, tall, fast-growing tree that could provide shade and as a coastal windbreak. Like many invasive species, the original good intention has been subsumed by the problems caused by these trees.¹
The species’ aggressive growth results in its spread into natural areas, out-competing native plants and smothering them under a heavy blanket of needle-like litter. In short order, Australian Pines kill the understory plants around them.² This is a threat not only to native plants, but also all native animal and insect species that depend upon native plants for food and habitat.
The Australian pine is classified by the State of Florida as a noxious weed, and Florida expressly prohibits people from cultivating or planting it.³ The Australian Pine is on both the Florida Noxious Weed List and the Florida Prohibited Aquatic Plants List.⁴ Australian Pines are “invasive exotics that are altering native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures or ecological functions, or hybridizing with natives.”⁵
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission⁶ cites specific environmental damage caused by Australian Pine to beach communities as follows:
• Australian pine invasions often displace native beach plant communities that provide critical wildlife habitat for threatened and endangered plant and animal species.
• Australian pine trees can encourage beach erosion by displacing deep-rooted vegetation.
• Australian pine tree’s dense shallow root system interferes with the ability of the endangered American crocodiles and sea turtles to construct coastal nests.
• Australian pine forests provide little or no native wildlife habitat.
Charlotte County lists the Australian Pine as a tree of “undesirable or exotic species which disrupt natural habitats or are otherwise destructive” and prohibits the planting of Australian Pine trees in the County.⁷
The University of Florida encourages all property owners to remove Australian Pines to prevent them from spreading their seeds into natural areas.⁸
Australian Pines present a danger to residents and property in the event of storm winds or erosion, as their size and stature can result in deadly or costly human or property damage during storms.
In light of the universal acknowledgement of the dangers and undesirable components of the Australian Pine among responsible agencies and scholars, and the fragile nature of our barrier island ecosystem, BICI supports and encourages the systematic removal of all Australian Pines from the Palm, Knight, and Don Pedro Island ecosystem.
July ___, 2018
By Action of the Board of Directors, Bocilla Islands Conservancy, Inc.
Read The Position Paper
Bocilla Islands Conservancy Position Paper on Red Tide
As part of its mission, The Bocilla Islands Conservancy, Inc. (“BICI”) is dedicated to the preservation and protection of the unique natural resources and the quality of life for those who live on the ecosystem of Palm, Knight, Little Gasparilla, and Don Pedro Islands and Thornton Key. This means providing protection for native plant and animal life, educating those who visit, live, or work on and around the barrier islands, and positing reasonable and desirable priorities for individuals and private and governmental organizations that initiate or sustain policies or practices necessary to improve and conserve our ecosystem. One issue of primary importance is identification of threats to animals and aquatic species, plant life, and people who inhabit the islands and the waters that surround them. One such threat is red tide.
The following is the official BICI position on Red Tide.
A red tide is a harmful algal bloom consisting of an above-normal concentration of a microscopic alga or plant-like organism. In Southwest Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, Karenia brevis (“K. brevis”) is the species that causes most red tides. To distinguish K. brevis blooms from red tides caused by other species of algae, researchers in Florida call it “Florida red tide.”¹
Toxic chemicals produced by red tides harm marine organisms and humans. K. brevis produces brevetoxins affecting the central nervous system of fish and other vertebrates, resulting in death. Wave action breaks open K. brevis cells, releasing brevetoxins into the air, leading to respiratory irritation. People with severe or chronic respiratory conditions may sustain serious illness from red tide. Mote Marine Laboratory studies show that “airborne red tide toxins can travel up to a mile inland, depending on the wind direction and other weather patterns,” affecting people and animals up to a few blocks away from the beach.² Brevetoxins can also accumulate in oysters and clams, which can lead to Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning in people who consume contaminated shellfish.³
The impacts of red tide have caused massive fish kills along miles of beach and impacted inshore waters and estuaries. In Southwest Florida, the impact hits some of the most important and fragile mangrove estuary systems. Human engineering of canals and waterways along the Gulf and the Intracoastal Waterway regrettably harbor massive amounts of dead fish, making them impossible to remove by natural flows and manmade cleanups in the inshore waters. The dead fish are a health hazard to humans, pets, and native animal species because dead fish sustain and nourish harmful bacteria.⁴
Red tide can create economic as well as quality of life and health issues of massive proportions. In an economy so dependent upon tourism, and especially outdoor sport, beach and inland water, and eco-tourism, red tide onslaughts and sustained or repeated red tide impacts threaten the economy of the region, land values, and overall quality of life on beach communities and especially the barrier islands in Southwest Florida. This, in turn, threatens the ability of BICI and other conservation organizations to maintain support for efforts to sustain the natural ecosystem.
While there is no direct link between nutrient pollution and the frequency or severity of red tides caused by K. brevis, once red tides are transported inshore, they are capable of using man-made nutrients for their growth.⁵ Runoff from storm water and releases from Lake Okeechobee combined with the addition of fertilizer, human waste, and other pollutants into the waters and runoff that makes its way to the Gulf exacerbate K. brevis by increasing its growth and also magnify its impact by additionally stressing aquatic species and those that interact with them in the ecosystem, such as plants, animals, birds, and humans. It follows that stressed aquatic species die sooner and in greater numbers if they are subjected to multiple stressors and invigorated or sustained red tide.
Red tide has been around as long as records have been kept about Southwest Florida, and there are no known scientifically acceptable means for controlling K. brevis.⁶ Finding solutions to the exacerbating influences of development and political decisions concerning water management in Florida will not be easy. However, the alternative of doing nothing is not a reasonable path for responsible local, state, and federal leaders.
In light of the dangers and undesirable effects of red tide and the exacerbating influences of releases from inland impoundments, storm runoff, fertilizer, human waste, and other factors known and unknown to the scientific community upon our waters—and in light of the fragile nature of our barrier island ecosystem—BICI urges the systematic study of the causes and potential solutions to these issues immediately and in a sustained fashion until mitigating efforts can be identified, prioritized, and implemented by state and federal governing bodies and agencies, private organizations, and the general public.
August ___, 2018
By Action of the Board of Directors, Bocilla Islands Conservancy, Inc.
Read The Position Paper
Bocilla Islands Conservancy Position Paper on Barrier Island Conservation
As part of its mission, The Bocilla Islands Conservancy, Inc. (“BICI”) is dedicated to the preservation and protection of the unique natural resources and the quality of life for those who live in the Palm, Knight, and Don Pedro Island system and adjacent communities. This means protecting the island natural structure and native plant and animal life as well as providing conservation education to those who visit, live, or work on and around the islands. The importance of healthy barrier islands to their own ecosystem and that of adjacent mainland areas is a matter of utmost priority.
The following is the official BICI position on why healthy and sustainable barrier islands are critical.
Most substantial barrier islands are created over thousands of years as shifting sands create sand bars that are seeded and then populated by mangroves and other saltwater plants. Maritime hammock communities can accrue into barrier islands that protect the land and waters behind them. As difficult and protracted as the process of accretion is, barrier islands can be decimated, divided, or even completely lost in short order by erosive elements of natural shore changes, storms, and ill-advised human development or behavior. Conservation and protection of barrier islands must be a top priority because of their critical significance for the health, safety, and well-being of plant and animal species on them, many of whom are endangered or threatened, as well as human inhabitants on barrier islands and adjacent shore areas.
The economic impact of quality coastal areas in Florida is unquestioned. Barrier islands provide a unique and rich experience of recreational activities and eco-tourism, and sport fishing and boating thrives on and around them. Careful and thoughtful development sustaining the “old-Florida” character of Southwest Florida and preservation of its lifestyle, beaches, fisheries, flora, and fauna are possible only with substantial, healthy barrier islands. In formerly rural and still-developing communities such as Charlotte County and surrounding Southwest Florida communities, the eco-tourism, real estate, and commercial value of nearby beaches, mangroves, and coastal waters are crucial to individuals, businesses, and the local governments fueled by this tax base.
Barrier islands are important to adjacent mainland communities for far more than just economic reasons. Building codes are more stringent on barrier islands and adjacent coastal areas for good reason. Lands, structures, and property adjacent to the ocean suffer the corrosive impacts of salt, sand, wind, and water. Every minute of every day, barrier islands offer protection from onshore winds, waves, and tides, taking the brunt of the corrosive saltwater elements and protecting people and property on the mainland coast. While it may be in many ways regrettable that so many people want to live and play where our seas meet the land, it is a phenomenon that is increasing rather than declining. The enduring quality of life in coastal communities in Southwest Florida, as well as the safety of people and their loved ones, pets, and property, is directly attributable to the presence and strength of barrier islands.
Barrier islands support dozens of plants and animals federally listed as either rare, threatened, or endangered.¹ For example, local sea turtle species are considered threatened or endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act, and Florida has the largest population of sea turtle nests in the country. Preservation of beaches on barrier islands is critical to the future of sea turtle nesting areas and survival of the species in Southwest Florida. Southwest Florida barrier islands are uniquely suited to monitoring and protecting sea turtle nest sites. The Gopher Tortoise is another protected species that inhabits barrier islands, and loss of substantial barrier island habitat would deal a serious blow to the species. Many of the mangroves and other flora on the barrier islands are likewise federally protected.
Healthy sand dunes are important to aesthetics and conservation of beaches, which is why they are protected at the federal and state levels. But barrier island beaches and dunes are at particular risk because of lower elevation and narrow lands behind the dunes. Loss of dunes and sand onshore and offshore impacts not only the barrier islands themselves but also nearby beaches and islands. The importance of preserving beaches and dunes on barrier islands cannot be overstated.
In light of the universal acknowledgement of the significance and fragile nature of our barrier island structure and ecosystem, BICI supports and encourages the systematic and sustained conservation and protection of the Palm, Knight, and Don Pedro barrier island system.
June ___, 2019
By Action of the Board of Directors, Bocilla Islands Conservancy, Inc.
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Bocilla Islands Conservancy Overview
Bocilla Islands Conservancy is a public, nonprofit, non-political organization working in partnership with the residents of the Bocilla Islands chain, including Don Pedro Island, Knight Island, Little Gasparilla Island, and Thornton Key. Our mission is dedicated to the long-term preservation of open, undeveloped spaces and natural habitats across the Bocilla Islands. The Conservancy can customize conservation easements through land acquisition, ensuring sensitive habitats are preserved and protected to maintain the ecological balance of the islands.
Disclaimer:
The content provided on this website is for informational purposes only and reflects the views and opinions of Bocilla Islands Conservancy members. It is not intended as legal, financial, or professional advice. Bocilla Islands Conservancy assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or the accuracy of the information provided. Visitors are encouraged to consult qualified professionals regarding any concerns or decisions. By using this site, you agree that Bocilla Islands Conservancy and its contributors shall not be held liable for any actions taken based on the information presented here.