NOAA Recommends Funding for Sapelo Oyster Reef Restoration Project

In late July, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association recommended funding for a new collaborative project aimed at reducing flooding around the Sapelo Island Gullah Geechee community known as Hog Hummock. Like many of Georgia’s barrier islands, Sapelo Island and it’s communities are susceptible to coastal flooding, sea-level rise, and other coastal hazards. With the proposed funding, the Hogg Hummock-based non-profit organization Save Our Legacy Ourself (SOLO) will lead the project with support from the University of Georgia’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) and Shell to Shore, an Athens based oyster shell recycling nonprofit. The project will build a living shoreline and oyster reef designed to bolster the marsh and channel flood waters away from the community. 

Maurice Bailey, the founder of SOLO, spoke on the need for the project. “One of our challenges, becoming more noticeable yearly, is the flooding throughout the community in both homes and farmed land. With climate changes, sea level rise, and an unkept maze of historical ditches, these problems will only become more severe until the lands are unusable,” Bailey said. 

Nik Heynen, Distinguished Research Professor of Geography, summed up the project’s capacity to simultaneously protect the community while providing an important learning opportunity for University of Georgia faculty and students. “At this time when the Saltwater Geechee community is being threatened by development and sea level rise, following Geechee leadership and knowledge about how to combat environmental problems in Hogg Hummock is vitally important for scientists and students from the state’s largest public university.” Information from this article was sourced from an IRIS press release. Read the full press release here!