Bayou Blue Presbyterian Church in Gray, Louisiana has found a passion for hospitality and education. They invite volunteers at the Houma Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Volunteer Village to for dinner and to an educational program on the shrinking of Louisiana’s wetlands. The church is looking to expand this program to include many other facets, including study materials for volunteer groups to use at home to learn more about wetlands issues. Currently Bayou Blue is looking for people who would be interested in helping create these study materials. If you have interest in this project, please email Kristina Peterson at krajeskipeterson@msn.comor Gloria King at disappearingcoast@gmail.com. A big thank you to Kristina Peterson for sending the following information on wetlands erosion and the program that Bayou Blue is working on.
Even though wetlands are a small portion of the nation’s landmass they play a vital role in the hemispheric ecological health. To name a few roles, wetlands provide valuable carbon sinks that mitigate against climate change, they help purify water from pollutants that pass through them and they provide protection for communities from storm surges. They are home to traditional communities and they offer spiritual and economic support to the nation through their work, their culture and their faith. Louisiana contains 25 percent of the United States’ coastal wetlands and 40 percent of its salt marshes.
Scientists with the International Panel Climate Change have stated that the Louisiana wetlands are vital in the fight against global warming. Louisiana accounts for 80 percent of wetland loss in the United States. Since 1930 it has lost annually approximately 25 square miles of wetlands, the amount of land equivalent to the state of Delaware. Many coastal communities are dependent on the wetlands and derive their livelihoods from natural extraction sources such as trapping, shellfish, fish and oil. These communities are integrally attached to the wetlands lifeworld and possess valuable local and environmental knowledge, a key element in the restoration-mitigative efforts. The loss of land has resulted in displacement and social disarticulation of once strong, sustainable communities. Being cut off from their communities and families in the lower parishes, individuals who have been relocated in larger towns have experienced more domestic violence, alcoholism and school drop out rates than those who were able to stay with their natural social networks. The past social and physical losses mimic what future disruptions are expected from climate change conditions.
The congregations and their respective communities along the coast of Louisiana are at elevated risk due to higher intensity of storms and loss of the eroding deltas. Without the restoration of the wetlands and appropriate structural and non-structural mitigation, many communities and thousands of people are facing displacement in the next 10 to 15 years.
In the aftermath of four intense hurricanes in the past four years, unprecedented numbers of volunteers have come to the coast to help rebuild homes. Approximately 33,000 Presbyterian volunteers alone have volunteered for the effort, plus thousands others representing almost every faith group. The rebuilding process is greater than just housing. If the area is to have a future complete with communities, bio-diversity and eco-services, the wetland loss must be quickly and effectively addressed. If wetland policy issues and restoration measures are not addressed, this part of God’s good creation and its benefits to the United States and the hemisphere will be no more.
It is paramount to address both the social and environmental coastal risk issues of Louisiana as they will only continue to increase with global climate change. The Bayou Blue Presbyterian Church and CHART have formed a collaborative effort that will build on the disaster volunteer relationship by enabling the collaboration to continue and by implementing an educational strategy that will help interpret the current risks.
This project will provide vital links and materials for PDA work camp volunteers and other interested parties. The presence of the PDA volunteers and the concrete outpouring of concern expressed by the PC (USA) provide a great opportunity to increase the awareness of the relationship between wetland issues and national policy. This education and policy link will help volunteers, congregations and groups as “people of the way” to reflect and act locally, regionally and nationally on the issues facing God’s creation. These materials will help the expansive national network to act on policy and affect legislative advocacy that will lead to a sustainable and resilient coast.
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