Tag: ReTURN the Favor

reTURN the Favor Honored with 2019 New Jersey Governor’s Excellence Award

By: Meghan Kolk, Wildlife Biologist

Conserve Wildlife Foundation has been a partner in the reTURN the Favor (RTF) program since its establishment in 2013.  This multi-partner program organizes a large group of trained and dedicated volunteers who collectively spend thousands of hours covering miles of Delaware Bay beaches to rescue stranded horseshoe crabs.

This year RTF was honored with a New Jersey’s Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award, New Jersey’s premier awards program for recognizing outstanding environmental performance, programs and projects throughout the state, in the Healthy Ecosystems & Habitats Category.

Continue reading “Award Winning Program Removes Rubble for Horseshoe Crabs”

Restoring Critical Delaware Bay Habitat for Migratory Shorebirds

By: Kelsey Lawler, Spring 2015 Intern

Saturday, May 9 is International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) 2015! It is time to celebrate and bring awareness to the spectacular event that is bird migration. Since 1993, IMBD has been serving as a celebration as well as a call to action for migratory bird conservation.

 

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey has been doing their part for bird conservation. We have developed a range of programs to increase the numbers of endangered migratory birds, like the Red Knot, since their decline in the late 1990’s.

 

Red Knots use New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore as a stopover for feeding after their long journey from the Arctic and South America. Delaware Bay plays a major part in the Red Knot life cycle, so we’ve focused our efforts on restoring this critical habitat. The Red Knot migration is timed to take advantage of the spawning of the horseshoe crabs that use the same beaches as breeding grounds. Their eggs provide a rich food source for the Red Knots at a time when they are in desperate need of nutrients.

 

We have been working to benefit both horseshoe crabs and the migratory shorebirds that feed on their eggs, like the Red Knot, through our beach restoration projects, oyster reef construction and monitoring projects. Since Superstorm Sandy, we have successfully restored over a mile of impacted horseshoe crab habitat. We’re working to further protect these beaches from erosion and to create calmer waters for horseshoe crabs through our oyster reef construction experiments. To learn more about our restoration work in Delaware Bay, visit RestoreNJBayshore.org.

 

Of course, we haven’t been able to do this work alone. Volunteers are one of the reasons why these projects are possible!

 

Celebrate International Migratory Bird Day by getting involved in migratory bird conservation:

• Learn more about how you can protect horseshoe crabs through tagging programs and the reTURN the Favor initiative. 
• You can become an advocate for the birds you love through our Shorebird Stewardship program! We are currently recruiting volunteers for next summer.
• Learn more about Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Shorebird Project.
• Support our work to protect migratory shorebirds in New Jersey.

Kelsey Lawler was the 2015 Spring Intern for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.