The Planning for Sea Level Rise in the Matanzas Basin project hosted a large public workshop on February 24th at the Whitney Lab for Marine Biosciences in Marineland. About 70 members of the public as well as professional and stakeholder representatives attended. After a welcome by GTM Research Reserve director Dr. Michael Shirley, project principal investigator Dr. Kathryn Frank and project collaboration lead Dr. Dawn Jourdan presented the results from the first set of Matanzas stakeholder workshops and the latest technical analyses for future scenario planning. The pair explained the high level of acceptance of sea level rise by earlier participants and the residents’ indication that they were already experiencing impacts from sea level rise in the region. The researchers related public preferences to potential sea level rise adaptation strategies such as living shorelines, water storage easements, and incentives for future development to locate inland in carefully selected locations to balance community and environmental values.

Frank and Jourdan shared model-based scenarios of potential future development and conservation priorities in the Matanzas study area created by Drs. Paul Zwick and Tom Hoctor at the University of Florida. The purpose of the scenarios was to inspire dialogue about the relationship between sea level rise, future population growth and development patterns, and environmental conservation. The researchers showed the impacts of these phenomenon on habitats in the region for three species with diverse needs: shorebirds, gopher tortoises, and black bears. The researchers presented future land development scenarios that would allow the region to accommodate changes in the natural and built environment without sacrificing needed natural habitat.

Next, Lia Sampson, Coastal Outreach Coordinator, led workshop participants in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of the proposed conservation strategy.  Last, Belinda Nettles, a doctoral student of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida, and a team of student assistants facilitated a land development game which permitted small groups of residents to envision their ideas about future development on a hypothetical 700 acre tract. Electronic polling of individuals at the beginning and end of the workshop demonstrated a gained interest by participants to have their local governments promote infill development to meet future conservation and development goals.

Presentation slides and game instructions are available on the library page

Drs. Frank and Jourdan along with Lia Sampson take closing questions and comments from Matanzas residents. The workshop SWOT analysis can be seen beneath the presentation screen.

Dr. Jourdan discusses strategy with with Team 1 during the land development game.  Participants on each of the six teams had to determine their group’s goals for meeting rising population demands while balancing conservation needs.

Team 5 closes in on a development strategy.  Areas providing habitat for focal species can be seen on the right side of the hypothetical site map in green.  Areas already heavily developed with mixed residential and commercial use are located on the left.

Team 3’s final proposal.  Game pieces represented various residential unit densities that could be located as each team saw fit within their overall development goals.  Seventy-five total pieces were necessary to reach the target level of accommodation for incoming residents.

Team response matrix categorizing the design and development priorities of each participating team as well as final impressions and feedback.