June 2008Planting 850 Mangrove Trees that are 18 months old from Nursery

The Reef Ball Mangrove Division was in the Cayman Islands at the end of May and first of June 2008 and completed a 2 year project of successfully planting 850 18 month old mangrove trees started in a nursery using Reef Balls as base pots. The project will now be on-going and self funded by property owners or sponsorship of the division's newest direct planting method which does not require the 18 month nursery step. The Cayman Department of Environment our partner in the endeaver with a goal to increase islandwide planting of red mangroves after devistating mangrove losses after the hurricane. The Cayman Department of Environment also insures the trees are planted in appropriate locaitons from a planning perspective and Reef Ball Foundation provides site specific elevation and soil sampling/surveying to insure each plant has the best chance of long term survival. This planting phase was sponsored by Rainbow Reality, Dr. Barry Riecter, and volunteer support from North Side Primary School, DoE Employees on their days off work, and 9 Reef Ball Volunteers from around the world. The project had a remarkable survival rate with all the mangroves having survived the nursery stage.