Community Center

Community Volunteers Remove Over 3,000 Pounds of Hurricane and Other Debris From Coral Bay Mangroves

ST. JOHN — The University of the Virgin Islands announced Tuesday that over twenty community volunteers removed more than 3,000 pounds of debris from the shoreline during the 2021 St. John Great Mangrove Cleanup. Volunteers ages 22-77 cleaned 0.25 miles of mangrove debris from the shoreline in Coral Bay on Saturday, July 24.  Much of the debris found had lingered as a result of the hurricanes.  “This is the most debris removed by weight from community clean-ups of USVI mangroves,?to-date,” said project lead, Dr. Kristin Wilson Grimes, research assistant professor of Watershed Ecology at the UVI Center for Marine and Environmental Studies. “This was a tremendous effort by volunteers, despite the rain we experienced on Saturday. It really speaks to what a dedicated group can achieve together." According to UVI, by number, the top items removed were beverage bottles (1,074; plastic, glass, and cans), plastic pieces (579) and construction materials (461). There many unusual finds, includ...