Coastal Protection

In Louisiana, TPL helps conserve and create refuges that protect wildlife while buffering human habitat from storms. Every year along Louisiana’s coast, an area larger than the size of Manhattan washes into the Gulf of Mexico. More than a million acres of barrier islands, forests and marshland have disappeared in the last few decades, leaving coastal communities vulnerable to hurricane winds and floods.

As the coastline vanishes, so do their natural resources, threatening hundreds of animal and plant species—including the fish, crabs and shellfish that support the region’s vital seafood harvest. Coastal erosion also jeopardizes tourism and threatens two of the busiest cargo ports in the nation. As the region’s natural resources are diminished, so too are its local economies, livelihoods and culture.