Project Summary:

Positioned in a geographic bottleneck in the Central Flyway, the Texas Mid-coast hosts millions of birds from over 400 different species every year. With abundant marsh, beach, and other ecosystems, the Mid-coast is especially important to waterbirds and shorebirds who nest and forage in these habitats or stopover to rest and recharge during migration. These populations of coastal birds, such as herons, egrets, skimmers, and plovers, face mounting threats, from habitat loss and human disturbance to intensified weather events and ongoing sea-level rise. Because of these threats, coastal bird populations, tracked by the Texas Colonial Waterbird Society, have been declining across Matagorda Bay and the larger Texas coast for the last five decades. Threatened and endangered species like Piping Plover and Whooping Crane occur in this region and depend on the remaining intact habitat for survival. Audubon Texas, the state field office  of the National Audubon Society, has been active on the Texas coast protecting wildlife, conserving habitat, and inspiring environmental stewardship through outreach and education since 1923. Today, Audubon Texas works with strategic partners to manage 177 islands along the Texas coast, including 12 islands within the Matagorda and San Antonio bay systems.

Audubon Texas’s coastal conservation project strives to maintain and restore existing bird habitats while also looking ahead to create new critical breeding habitat for birds in Matagorda Bay. Twenty-seven waterbird species, including iconic species like Roseate Spoonbill and Brown Pelican, rely on Audubon Texas-managed rookeries to complete the nesting phase of their annual life cycle. These species, and the rich Matagorda Bay ecosystems where they live, are a vital part of Texas’s coastal identity. Audubon Texas’s habitat stewardship includes monitoring nesting islands during the breeding season by performing formal breeding bird counts, conducting nest and hatchling counts, and reporting on nesting bird behavior. This long-term monitoring data supports the planning and implementation of meaningful habitat management through reducing disturbance, planting native plants, and reducing habitat erosion. Additionally, Audubon Texas is working to create new habitat by identifying suitable sites, designing lasting rookery islands, and advocating for new rookery islands in the bay. Our project priorities to create new habitat and steward existing habitats work in tandem to achieve our goal of expanding high quality habitat within Matagorda Bay to provide wide-ranging benefits for coastal bird populations. 

Recently the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expanded Chester Island by several acres using  dredged sediments  in 2019 and 2020. Audubon Texas also completed a feasibility study in 2020. Informed by expert input, modeling and site conditions, we identified and designed islands at five sites in Matagorda Bay appropriate for new rookery islands. Audubon Texas aims to build off these early island designs to develop innovative approaches to coastal conservation and track the benefits of island creation.  Like other natural infrastructure, these islands provide a range of ecosystem services, like storm surge mitigation, and stewardship of healthy habitat can support water filtration, and stem erosion.

What is Coastal Dredging?

Dredging is the removal of sediments and debris, including sand, silt, gravel from the bottom of lakes, rivers, harbors, and other waterways. It is a routine necessity often used to keep waterways and ports navigable for boats and ships because sedimentation—the natural process of sand and silt washing downstream—gradually fills channels and harbors. 

Several hundred million cubic-meters of sediment are dredged each year from U.S. ports, harbors and waterways, and much of it is disposed of and wasted. However, most of this dredged material could be used to support ecosystem projects instead, such as rebuilding eroding beaches with clean sand or restoration of wildlife habitats. Audubon Texas saw this need, and partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use dredge material in Matagorda Bay beneficially to construct island rookery habitats within Matagorda Bay.

Project Mission: 

Audubon’s mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of people, birds,  and the earth’s biological diversity. Audubon Texas is the state field office of the National Audubon Society, dedicated for the past 100 years to protecting birds, other wildlife, and their habitats. With chapters and partners, they protect and manage colonial waterbird populations in every major bay system on the Texas Gulf Coast, identify and conserve the most important sites for birds statewide, and work to reach 50,000 students annually through conservation education and stewardship action at three urban Audubon Centers.

Project Impact:

• A healthy Matagorda Bay will support ecotourism, ecosystem services, and recreational opportunities like birding to 164,833 residents.
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department estimates that there are 2.2 million bird watchers in Texas, a major driver in the $1.8 billion economic impact from Texas wildlife viewing.
• Over 3,000 acres of managed habitat for coastal bird populations in the Texas Mid-coast.
• Habitat for more than 400 bird species. Audubon’s 2020 annual waterbird count at Chester Island alone recorded 18 species all nesting on a single 73-acre site.

Partners Include:

Audubon Texas could not protect the coastal bird community without the help and collaboration from these management partners: American Bird Conservancy, Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, Houston Audubon, Matagorda Bay Foundation, San Antonio Bay Partnership, Texas General Land Office, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, The Nature Conservancy of Texas, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Project Needs:

Audubon Texas was selected for Texan by Nature Conservation Wrangler based on the project’s positive impact to people, prosperity, and natural resources. Through the program, Texan by Nature is working with the Audubon Texas Matagorda Bay Rookery program to address the following needs:

• Diverse partnerships with stakeholders in Matagorda Bay, including local communities, businesses, industry and nonprofit organizations, and upstream urban populations.
• Media visibility to bring awareness to their project and its benefits to local communities and their economies, environmental services, and ecotourism.
• Funding for conservation and island construction in Matagorda Bay. Island building projects are highly scalable, and Audubon would love to engage new partners in the construction of rookery habitat.

Texan by Nature’s Vision and Support:

Texan by Nature (TxN) is working with Audubon Texas to create more rookery islands in Matagorda Bay by beneficially using dredged sediment and measuring the environmental impacts and return on conservation from this type of restorative habitat creation. Texan by Nature is helping Audubon Texas to amplify messaging surrounding this project, educate Texans about the use of natural infrastructure along the coast, and get the Matagorda Bay community involved in ecotourism through birding.

Contact Texan by Nature at info@texanbynature.org & (512) 284-7482 if you can provide resources, connections, are interested in partnering, or would like to learn more. 

Texan by Nature’s Conservation Wrangler program is made possible due to support from program and project sponsors. Their dedication to conservation allows Texan by Nature to support selected projects in a myriad of ways, amplifying & accelerating their impact across the state of Texas.

This 2021 Conservation Wrangler project is proudly sponsored by: