Crew with seeds, corals restore environment in Puerto Rico

[Judi Lynn]

Danica Coto, Associated Press
Updated 8:11 am, Friday, March 9, 2018

FAJARDO, Puerto Rico (AP) — As crews re-string electric lines and clear debris from Hurricane Maria, a small group of Puerto Rican and international conservationists is working on rebuilding natural wonders destroyed by the strongest storm to hit the island in nearly a century.

Environmental groups and volunteers are gathering native seeds to replant forests across the U.S. territory and grafting broken coral back onto shattered reefs to help repair damage in the largest-ever effort of its kind for Puerto Rico.

The Category 4 storm damaged 1.2 billion trees and snapped hundreds of thousands of corals off reefs around the island when it hit on Sept. 20. Despite the widespread destruction, a lack of funding and pressing human needs kept pushing back long-term plans to replant trees and rebuild corals.

Now that Puerto Rico is slowly regaining its footing after the storm and initial funding has been secured, conservationists are fanning out across the island and into its waters to repair and restore what's left of the island's flora.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Crew-with-seeds-corals-restore-environment-in-12740126.php