Pfau encourages hands-on ‘in the muck’ voluntourism
Kelly Pfau threw splats of humor into her presentation at the SanCap Chamber’s monthly luncheon meeting on Feb. 19 at the Sundial Beach Resort & Spa on Sanibel — describing experiences businesses could participate in and encourage guests to join.
As Coastal Watch director for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF), she updated attendees on how her programs benefit the islands’ shorelines and post-hurricane restoration and told businesses know how to spread the word to get visitors helping.
Pfau enumerated five specific restoration projects where visiting groups and families would be able to participate with the SCCF to enjoy a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get their hands dirty,” while helping Sanibel environment recover. She said the programs were designed in answer to people from around the world asking how they could help.
A short video coproduced with the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau illustrates the programs. It currently shows in the chamber’s lobby and is available for businesses to air for staff and guests.
The five different areas where the SCCF could use help with its mission to bring back Sanibel’s habitat, wildlife and beauty include “marsh madness,” where groups can help plant mangroves along shorelines or simply adopt a mangrove to raise to “plant parenthood.” Since 2020, the SCCF has planted more than 20,000 mangroves.
“SCCF’s mangrove restoration efforts keep getting set back with hurricanes, but (we’re) getting people out there and really getting their hands dirty and understanding the importance of the mangrove habitat and all the critters that rely on it and how our system really operates,” Pfau said.
Its oyster reef building activities distribute, by hand, empty oyster shells donated by local restaurants to areas of the Tarpon Bay and San Carlos Bay not accessible by boat.
“Lugging 25- to 30-pound buckets of shell? Where else in Florida or even the world are you going to be able to have this opportunity?” she asked with a chuckle.
Other plantings, along with beach and other cleanups, also provide “ways to help that are impactful and meaningful,” Pfau said. One of the easiest ways beach properties can help is with beach bucket stations, which encourage beach strollers to pick up and dispose of trash as they make their way down the sands.
Pfau told the chamber members that the SCCF wants to help businesses design group activities for team-building and outdoor recreation any way that it can.
The luncheon was sponsored by the SCCF.
“We thank SCCF for its sponsorship and important presentations by Keeley and CEO James Evans at this meeting,” chamber President and Chief Executive Officer John Lai said. “You don’t often see such a strong partnership between conservation groups and the chamber like you do on Sanibel and Captiva, and SCCF is a big part of that.”