A fundraiser for a better world

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

Anyone worried about how our next generation will take care of the environment should be pleased with the Sandpoint Area Students Outdoor Adventure Club.

The club is raising funds to send its teenage members on a trip to the Dominican Republic to help with coral reef restoration, as well as planting mangrove forests to improve coastlines.

The club is hosting the International Wildlife Film Festival on Friday, Feb. 24 at the Heartwood Center, with proceeds going toward the teen volunteers. The doors will open at 6:15 p.m. and the films will start at 7 p.m.

Group leader John Hastings — a retired local science educator — said that though it might seem weird for a group of teenagers in North Idaho to spend their time improving ocean habitats, it’s a heartwarming sign that we’re all connected.

Members of the Sandpoint Area Students Outdoor Adventure Club plant mangroves in Belize. Courtesy photo.

“Coral reefs make up only 1% of the world’s ocean area, but are home to 25% of the ocean’s biodiversity,” Hastings told the Reader. “It’s a nursery for fish, where all baby fish are born because it’s more protection from predators. About 3 billion people around the world rely on fish as their primary source of protein. If reefs are gone, fish populations will collapse.”

Hastings said watching coral reefs that have been around for more than a million years be nearly destroyed in a couple of decades is a bitter pill to swallow.

“We’ve seen the extinction of species, but to see the collapse of an entire ecosystem — in this case, primarily from human activity — is unprecedented,” Hastings said. “Obviously climate change is what we look at the most, as it both warms the seawater and acidifies the ocean.”

The trip has been planned for a few years, but the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted efforts for the original group of teens.

“Last summer, we got to go to Belize,” Hastings said. “We helped out some Indigenous farmers plant native fruit trees to increase their yields, and we did get two days of snorkeling on the reef, but no restoration. Part of that is because Belize is the leader in the world for coral reef restoration. They have been protecting their reefs years before it was the cool thing to do.”

Working through the Explorica tour company, Hastings and teenagers in the club will literally dive in and begin restoring reefs by building metal structures and attaching coral fragments that have fallen off in a process called microfragmentation. Another method is referred to as “assisted evolution.”

“Some animals cannot adapt fast enough to the way we’re making the world change,” Hastings said. “So we use assisted evolution through breeding programs, identifying fragments that have been able to survive and breed them with one another.”

Aside from outplanting and cleaning the reefs, Hastings said the teens will plant mangrove forests in coastal areas. The dense roots of mangroves help bind and build soils, stabilizing coastlines, encouraging deposition of sediments and reducing erosion. 

“They’ll also plant oyster beds, because oysters are great filters of the water,” Hastings said.

While a group of 10 made the environmental trip to Belize last year, Hastings said 20 will be traveling to the Dominican Republic. Each teen must cover their own costs to cover travel, food and lodging, which averages about $3,000 per traveler. But, Hastings said, proceeds from the film festival will help offset a portion of the costs, along with earnings from the silent auction held at the event.

Films shown at the International Wildlife Film Festival, based in Missoula, Mont., will include one of particular interest to the teens, as it is a documentary about a woman who is working on the very same coral reef restoration as the students will be in the Dominican Republic.

Other films look at how backcountry skiing has affected the bighorn sheep habitats, the curious migration of tadpoles, films on wolverines and porcupines, and one on fungi and molds, to name a few. Admission is by a suggested donation of $20 and Eichardt’s Pub will have refreshments available for purchase. Those interested in donating items for the silent auction can drop them off at All Seasons Garden and Floral in Ponderay.

International Wildlife Film Festival • Friday, Feb. 24; doors at 6:15 p.m., show at 7 p.m.; $20 suggested donation. The Heartwood Center, 615 Oak St., 208-263-8699.