A new book is taking lessons from Jamaica Bay to examine efforts to create cities that work with nature and climate change. NY1's Clodagh McGowan filed the following report.
If you ask experts, there's a lot to learn by studying the ecosystem in Jamaica Bay.
"In terms of the number of species, the hundreds of bird, fish, plant and animal species that use Jamaica Bay," said Adam Parris, the Executive Director of the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay.
Parris is one of more than 40 authors contributing to “Prospects for Resilience: Insights from New York City’s Jamaica Bay.” The authors developed the book through years of research, and it takes a look at efforts to create cities that work and with, not against, nature.
"It explains what we know, what we don't know and what we need to know about Jamaica Bay," said Parris.
Parris says especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the focus on resiliency became even more urgent. Jamaica Bay suffered a massive hit but he says restoration efforts have paid off.
"The bay has improved in terms of water quality, as a result of a lot of the different efforts that the city has done, the wastewater treatment plants that they installed were back up online within a few days after Sandy, which is really important. But we still have a ways to go," said Parris.
Parris hopes the book has the potential to inspire the next generation of scientists too.
"It's a great resource for students to learn about the bay and then find an entry point to be able to jump in and say 'I want to do more in Jamaica Bay,'" said Parris.
For more information about “Prospects for Resilience” head to islandpress.org.