On Friday 3^rd June, employees from Aspen were excited to plant the first young red mangrove trees in their sponsored Coastal Red Mangrove Forest on Trunk Island – the Bermuda Zoological Society’s (BZS) ‘Living Classroom’.

In July 2021, Aspen pledged to donate $25K per year, for the next five years, to support the creation of the coastal exhibit. As a part of their company’s 20^th Anniversary celebration, 17 employees from Aspen participated in a very special corporate day of giving on Trunk Island, where they were able to plant the first of the young red mangrove trees in the newly developed coastal exhibit.

“Partnering with the BZS’s mangrove forestation project is a great way for Aspen to give back to our community,” said Adam Barboza, Director Corporate Social Responsibility at Aspen. “By helping create the coastal exhibit, we are encouraging growth in the biodiversity habitat that will provide experiential learning opportunities for current and future generations. It was a fantastic opportunity for the Aspen team to be a part of this impactful work and we thank Trevor and his colleagues for their vision and all the hard work they put in to getting the site ready for planting.”

BZS Captain Trevor Rawson, Trunk Island Project Coordinator, started their day with a boat tour of the surrounding coastline of Trunk Island’s neighbor, Rabbit Island. During their tour they were able to see quite a few White-tailed Tropic bird, “Longtail”, chicks nestled in their rocky nests. Captain Rawson then gave the team a view of the coastal exhibit from the ocean, indicating how protected the mangroves would be from the open ocean waves.

Once on Trunk Island, Captain Rawson led the team on a day filled with preparing the mangrove habitat with recycled, biodegradable burlap bags. These bags were stuffed with rich soil sourced on Trunk. The weighted bags line the edges of the bay to act as an erosion resistant barrier, and double as a growing medium for the young mangroves. The Aspen team then planted the starter population of the first 14 Red Mangroves planted on Trunk Island. These were raised by the staff at BAMZ who were happy to see them go to a new home in this wonderful project

“We were very proud to participate in the BZS mangrove forestation project by successfully preparing the grounds and planting the mangroves to promote marine life”, said Mark Pickering, CEO of Aspen. “Trevor and the team were instrumental in having the materials readily available and providing guidance throughout the day as our colleagues experienced an excellent team building event on Trunk Island.”

Red Mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) provide essential ecosystem services: a nursery habitat for many juvenile reef fish, feeding areas for diverse fish at high tide, and their tangled prop roots protect the coastline against erosion. However, mangroves in Bermuda have suffered extensive losses due to coastal infrastructure and property development. Rising sea levels threaten the remaining mangroves, as the waters have become too deep for seedlings to establish and thus regeneration after storm damage is significantly diminished.

By supporting the mangrove forestation project at Trunk Island, the aim of Aspen is to raise awareness of climate change, habitat restoration and to provide opportunities for student experiential learning. Their partnership with the BZS will help provide the basis for a better understanding of how we all can make a difference in the world in which we live.

“It was an amazing experience to be out here on Trunk Island with my co-workers and to be a part of such an important project for Trunk Island’s habitat restoration”, said Chris Coleman, Global CFO of Aspen. “I can’t wait to see what all of our hard work will look like in 10 years.”

“Thanks to the generous donation from Aspen, the BZS are happy to begin the creation of the new Red Mangrove habitat on Trunk Island,” said Colin Brown, BZS President. “Their recent corporate day of giving is the starting point for this walkthrough exhibit, which will allow visitors to experience the Red Mangroves and will give our education team the ability to provide new substantive and sustained educational experiences for thousands of students as they move through the Bermuda school systems.”