TAMPA, Fla. — As fans count down the days until Super Bowl LV in Tampa, the NFL Green and the Super Bowl LV Host Committee are trying to make a positive impact on the area ahead of the big game.
Recently, a group of community volunteers planted large mangroves and native vegetation along the shorelines at Picnic Island, Mosaic Park and Maximo Park to help "secure and stabilize" the coastline.
The greening efforts also included a shoreline cleanup with crews from Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Hillsborough County Parks, the city of Tampa, the city of St. Petersburg and TREE Inc.
The host committee says the shoreline restorations projects are part of a large initiative to leave a "green legacy" in the community post-Super Bowl. TECO, and NFL sustainability partners Verizon, Oikos Triple Zero and Catrol also supported the projects.
These mangroves and native plants are crucial in stabilizing the coastline ecosystem and preventing beach erosion. They also provide habitats for wildlife and protect nearby areas by absorbing storm surge impacts during severe weather.
At Picnic Island, crews planted 50 large red, black and white mangroves along with green buttonwoods along the shoreline.
At Maximo Park, crews cleaned up the park, removed invasive plants and planted native trees, mangroves, beach sunflower and seagrasses.
Mosaic Park, along the Alafia River, was also cleaned up and received 200 large, established mangroves along the shoreline.
Other greening projects include creating sand dunes at Picnic Island to prevent erosion, creating a pollinator garden at Veterans Memorial Park, tree plantings at the Boys & Girls Club in Wimauma, native plantings and invasive plant removal at Lowry Park and McKay Bay Nature Park and continuing work to restore Florida's barrier coral reef.
To do that, NFL Green works with retired special ops veterans of Force Blue, the Florida Aquarium, the University of Miami and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The coral reef project started during Super Bowl LIV with an effort to plant 100 corals in honor of the NFL's 100th season.
Now, that has expanded to become 100 Yards of Hope, a football field-sized project using corals grown at the Florida Aquarium's Center for Conservation camps and the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School.
Recently, Force Blue divers joined scientists to plant more than 1,000 staghorn corals and 100 two-year-old juvenile staghorn coral colonies in the reef. Divers plan to go back in the water in January to continue 100 Yards of Hope work.
The host committee says more greening projects are planned ahead of Super Bowl LV in Tampa, including planting a fruit tree orchard at Mango Recreation Center and creating a vegetable garden and community compost project at Reed Park.
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