Community-based restoration is, essentially, a sustainable conservation program. Rather than relying on present-day law and public opinion to assign importance, it incorporates the value of conservation efforts into the backbone of a community. When executed correctly, habitat restoration becomes a critical consideration of the legal, academic and economic infrastructures in a given location. Let's take a look at what community involvement in each of these areas might look like.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Marine debris is litter that ends up in oceans, seas, and other large bodies of water. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific trash vortex, spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan. The patch is actually comprised of the Western Garbage Patch, located near Japan, and the Eastern Garbage Patch, located between the U.S. states of Hawaii and California.

The goal of this project is to re-create marsh habitat in the open water behind the shoreline. This new marsh will maintain the lake-rim function along this section of the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain by preventing the formation of breaches into interior ponds. Sediment will be dredged from Lake Pontchartrain and contained in cells within the interior ponds to create approximately 417 acres of marsh. In addition, 149 acres of degraded marsh will be nourished with dredged material.

Residents of the Goodbee area northwest of Covington who have been fighting the development of new subdivisions in the flood-prone area for years got some good news at the St. Tammany Parish Zoning Commission's Feb. 4 meeting. Commissioners approved a request to reduce the size of the planned unit development formerly known as The Preserve at Goodbee Lakes from 75 to 32 acres and rezone the remaining 43 acres to A-1 Suburban District so they could be maintained as wetlands. The number of homesites would be reduced from 92 to 66.

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) are underwater plants that grow in shallow water and do not emerge above the surface. These areas are important nurseries for juvenile fish and provide refuge for smaller species of fish and invertebrates from predators.

Total coliform bacteria are a collection of relatively harmless microorganisms that live in large numbers in the intestines of man and warm- and cold-blooded animals. They aid in the digestion of food. A specific subgroup of this collection is the fecal coliform bacteria, the most common member being Escherichia coli. These organisms may be separated from the total coliform group by their ability to grow at elevated temperatures and are associated only with the fecal material of warm-blooded animals.

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) thrives across the estuarine salinity gradient providing valuable ecosystem services. Within the saline portion of estuaries, seagrass areas are frequently cited as hotspots for their role in capturing and retaining organic carbon (Corg). Non-seagrass SAV, located in the fresh to brackish estuarine areas, may also retain significant soil Corg, yet their role remains unquantified.

Wetlands contribute to the national and local economies by producing resources, enabling recreational activities and providing other benefits, such as pollution control and flood protection. While it can be difficult to calculate the economic value provided by a single wetland, it is possible to evaluate the range of services provided by all wetlands and assign a dollar value. These amounts can be impressive. According to one assessment of natural ecosystems, the dollar value of wetlands worldwide was estimated to be $14.9 trillion. (Source: Costanza et al.

On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion, which killed 11 men, caused the rig to sink and started a catastrophic oil leak from the well. Before it was capped three months later, approximately 134 million gallons of oil had spilled into the Gulf, the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Residents of a sinking Louisiana island have until the end of the month to apply for a new home under a first-of-its-kind federal program to help people retreat from the effects of climate change. The state Office of Community Development set Jan. 31 as the deadline for Isle de Jean Charles residents to request resettlement in a new housing development near Houma or an existing home elsewhere in Louisiana.