The Dune Explorers Program, an extension of our Climate Kids initiative, is a new educational curriculum created by our team to connect communities to climate messages and the importance of coastal resilience through projects like our DUNAS restoration effort. By weaving together cultural, ecological, and community values we lay the groundwork for a resilient future.
In September 2017, Hurricane María and Irma devastated Puerto Rico causing considerable impacts to both natural and human communities. For this small Caribbean island, the ramifications of global climate change are visceral and imminent — however, Puerto Rico’s is not a story of desperation but of resilience.
As part of our DUNAS project, the Climate Science Alliance has been working alongside our partners and community members in Puerto Rico to help restore some of the dunes on the northern coast of Puerto Rico. Additionally, we have been helping to educate the community on the climate impacts to the region and what they can do to help protect their island. The Dune Explorers Program, an extension of our Climate Kids initiative, is a new educational curriculum created by our team to connect the community to these climate messages and the importance of the DUNAS restoration work to nature and the community. By weaving together cultural, ecological, and community values we lay the groundwork for a resilient future.
With the Dune Explorers Program, participants will learn about:
The importance of dune ecosystems for people and animals.
The physical, natural, and human factors that both form and alter dunes.
The role dunes play in protecting culturally and archeological significant sites and resources and how we restoration can help us make a better future.
The impacts of climate change globally and locally in Puerto Rico.
The importance of dunes in protecting coastal human communities from climate impacts.
About the DUNAS project and what everyone can do to help make a difference.
We are excited to partner with our Puerto Rican collaborators Para la Naturaleza to offer this program in Puerto Rico soon!
About DUNAS: In collaboration with Dr. Isabel Rivera-Collazo, Climate Science Alliance (CSA), Para la Naturaleza (PLN), Vida Marina, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (CCCIA), the DUNAS project was convened to restore coastal dunes in northern Puerto Rico that were severely degraded by extreme storms. Although sand dunes are vulnerable to damage, they are critical for protecting ecological environments, cultural artifacts, and human communities. To learn more, please visit: www.climatesciencealliance.org/DUNAS
This project was made possible through a 2018 Climate Adaptation Fund grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) entitled, “Puerto Rico se Levanta: Learning from extreme events to build and sustain a resilient future". Support to establish the Climate Adaptation Fund was provided by a grant to the WCS from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.