Larissa Graham of CT NERR presents to the LISS Communications, Outreach, and Engagement Work Group about restoration and stewardship efforts at Bluff Point State Park in Groton, CT. LISS Photo

The Long Island Sound Study will host a series of public meetings to discuss and finalize the Stewardship Strategy. The Strategy aims to provide a framework in support of the 33 Stewardship Areas of the Initiative. The draft of the Strategy will be shared for public comment March 10 – May 9. Please use the registration links below to attend the meetings:

Meeting 1: March 18, 2025 from 11:00AM –1:00PM

  • Introduce Strategy and Discussion
  • Presentation 1 – Restoration Strategy at Bluff Point State Park by Larissa Graham and Jason Krumholz of the Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve
  • Presentation 2 – Partnership at Sunken Meadow State Park by Vicky O’Neill of National Audubon Society
  • Next Steps and Close Out


Meeting 2: April 24, 2025 from 11:00AM –1:00PM

  • Briefly Recap/Discuss Strategy Comments
  • Presentation 1 – Revitilization of Veterans Park in Norwalk by Sarah Crosby of the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk
  • Presentation 2 – River Restoration Network at the Stewardship Areas by Anthony Allen of Save the Sound
  • Next Steps and Close Out


Meeting 3: June 4, 2025 from 11:00AM –1:00PM

  • Finalize Strategy
  • Next Steps and Close Out

Agenda

  • Briefly Recap/Discuss Strategy Comments
  • Presentation 1 – Revitalization of Veterans Park in Norwalk, CT by Sarah Crosby (Maritime Aquarium)
  • Presentation 2 – River Restoration Network at the Stewardship Areas by Anthony Allen (Save the Sound)
  • Next Steps and Close out

Registration: https://events.gcc.teams.microsoft.com/event/0b73912a-00fb-4ce3-952e-61bff25ebaee@88b378b3-6748-4867-acf9-76aacbeca6a7

By: Maya Ray, 2024 Long Island Sound Study Intern

Concrete Plant Park in the Bronx, New York, established in 2009, demonstrates both the contrast and harmony that can exist among people, industry, and nature. The park, located at the site of a once neglected and derelict concrete facility, was abandoned from 1987–⁠2000 until the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and Bronx River Alliance, filled with artistic vision, turned the area into a flourishing green space. In 2017, New York City’s only public edible food forest, The Bronx River Foodway, was established on site. Populated with edible and medicinal plants, its biodiversity sharply contrasts the park’s remaining concrete structures.

Through support from the inaugural round of the Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund, the Long Island Sound Study and Restore America’s Estuaries awarded the Bronx River Alliance $48,951 to engage and educate the Bronx River community in the restoration and protection of Long Island Sound at Concrete Plant Park.

Journei Bimwala, artist in residence for the Bronx River Alliance, was born in the Congo and raised worldwide. She has been living in the Bronx since 1997 and draws much of her artistic inspiration from the environment, dabbling in dance, fashion, drawing, and painting.

“Nature is all about creativity, art, and healing,” said Bimwala. “That’s me, 1000%.”

Bimwala, in addition to being an artist, is a clinical herbalist and foraging practitioner. She often uses native plants as a public education tool drawing in anyone from amateur herbalists to the curious through workshops where Bronx residents can learn how to harvest, prepare, and eat plants from the Foodway.

According to The Bronx River Alliance, the Foodway is the only public place within New York City where foraging can be done without incurring a fine. Many community members use the edible plants, while also taking on jobs managing and maintaining the area. The Foodway has become a hub for locals to build meaningful relationships with the land, and with each other. Residents have the opportunity to grow their own plants at the site, and forage from natives like elderberry, chestnut trees, echinacea, black raspberries, and various fungi. Once completed, The Bronx River Alliance intends for the Foodway to span 23 miles, extending the length of the Bronx River.

“I specifically focus on edible and medicinal plants that you can forage, where I get to connect people to nature, back to the land, and giving people back what was always theirs to begin with,” said Bimwala.  “We all have a responsibility to nature, just like nature has a responsibility to all of the species of this planet.”

Through activities at the park and expanding the foodway, the Bronx River Alliance aims to build a stronger community connection and sense of duty to the waterway and Long Island Sound. This will be done by using public stewardship events, accessible educational programs, and public outreach on social media. The goal is to educate more than 200 members of the community, while also getting people interested in the protection and stewardship of not only the park, but other areas along the Bronx River as well. 

Bimwala also notes the importance of green spaces historically, as a lack of access to them has had disproportionate effects on marginalized communities.

“We learned during the pandemic that Black folks have one of the worst health statuses in the country,” said Bimwala. “Why is that? We were no longer able to practice our own healing arts. We lost access to nature… My work is to take a stab at that injustice and give people back access to nature freely with no restriction and also have people realize that nature is not the enemy. Nature is your ally. Nature is your foundation.”

The park has many facilities for communal use, such as entrances for extended community access, a shared garden, and a reading circle. The Bronx River, which feeds into the Long Island Sound, is next to the park and is an important asset to the community, used for kayaking, crabbing, and fishing. The Bronx River Alliance hosts free community paddling events every other Friday, letting people engage in no cost fun on the waterfront.  Other engagement events also include “Gardening Tuesdays” and “Community Fridays”, where people can learn how to be stewards of the river, forage freely, and build relationships with their neighbors.

“People will take care of the land better, because now it has a meaning for them.” said Bimwala.  

There are plans to establish a meadow within the park, building habitat for diverse wildlife, while also adding aesthetic value. Determined to create a safe, clean, accessible Bronx River for all, the alliance hopes to continue inspiring people to create their own unique relationship with the outdoors, and protect it for years to come.

“It won’t happen in our time, but it can happen for the future generation. It can happen for folks 15, 50, even 100 years from now, and that’s perfectly fine, “ said Bimwala. “ But in order for us to give that back to the state that nature gave it to us, we need to start doing the work now.”

A marsh migration buffer created at the Dodge Paddock preserve in Stonington is one of the types of projects that can enhance resilience to flooding and severe storms. Judy Benson / Connecticut Sea Grant

Connecticut Sea Grant is excited to share openings for three extension positions.  The positions are:

  • Extension educator—nature-based approaches to resilience. The successful candidate will work in collaboration with federal and state agencies, municipal entities, and communities, along with partner organizations, to foster and improve exchanges of knowledge to better identify the diverse needs of communities, including their response to increasing threats to coastal resources associated with climate change, and to increase the public’s understanding of changing conditions, hazards, and related impacts. See https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/24454.
  • Sustainable and resilient communities assistant extension educator. The successful candidate will coordinate and collaborate with the four other Extension professionals in CT and NY to efficiently and effectively achieve the goals of the LISS Sustainable and Resilient Communities five-year work plan. See https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/24455.
  • Long Island Sound Study outreach coordinator. The successful candidate will work to increase appreciation, stewardship, awareness, and understanding of Long Island Sound and efforts to restore and protect it. Special emphasis is on educational programs for diverse communities and stakeholders that lead to the protection and restoration of Long Island Sound’s natural resources. See https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/24452.

This entry originally appeared on the Connecticut Sea Grant website.


The spring 2022 issue of Sound Update focuses on Long Island Sound Study’s Year in Review of 2021. Various clean water, habitat restoration, education, and science projects from Connecticut and New York are highlighted, including the new Long Island Sound Marine Debris Action Plan, Community Science Long Island 2021, and the latest findings on hypoxia in the Sound.

Contact: Jimena Perez-Viscasillas, LISS NY Outreach Coordinator
Email: jbp255@cornell.edu

Click flyer to see an enlarged view.

Stony Brook, NY (June 15, 2020) — The Long Island Sound Study (LISS) and the Long Island Invasive Species Management Area (LIISMA) are partnering to host the first-ever Long Island Sound (LIS) Coastal Bioblitz, a two-week, semi-virtual event that encourages participants anywhere within Queens and the North Shore of Long Island to head outside to coastal habitats and help find and identify species using the citizen science app iNaturalist.

This community citizen-science event is part of New York Invasive Species Awareness Week (ISAW), an annual outreach campaign aimed at raising awareness about invasive species and the harm they can cause to the environment. LISS and LIISMA work to limit the emergence and spread of these species through ongoing monitoring, most of which takes place during the warm summer months with the help of volunteers. With group monitoring efforts being canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, local environmental groups are looking for citizen scientists to help monitor species by visiting coastal regions near them and logging their findings using their phones.  

In webinars offered during ISAW last week, Lindsay Charlop (LIISMA Field Project and Outreach Coordinator), Bill Jacobs (LIISMA Program Manager) and Jimena Perez-Viscasillas (LISS Outreach Coordinator for New York) offered training on how to use the iNaturalist app, also sharing information on the Long Island Sound, invasive species management in Long Island, and an orientation on the upcoming Bioblitz. A recording of the webinar can be accessed on the event’s Facebook page.

The LIS Coastal Bioblitz kicks off today, June 15, and will continue through June 26. Interested participants are encouraged to join the Facebook event page, where event organizers will be posting updates, resources, and educational information on species found by observers throughout the Bioblitz. This event is ideal for students, educators, and anyone interested in exploring the outdoors while contributing to local conservation issues.

To find out more about the LIS Coastal Bioblitz, visit the Facebook page or contact Jimena at jbp255@cornell.edu. For information on Invasive Species Awareness Week, visit liisma.org.

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