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February 14, 2024
We’re thrilled to partner with Visionaries Public Television Series, the award-winning series hosted by Sam Waterston, to highlight Waterkeeper Warriors and their global impact. Miami Waterkeeper is a member of Waterkeeper Alliance, a movement of Waterkeepers that patrol and protect nearly 3 million square miles of water for almost a billion people around the world. This episode features two Waterkeepers in both Peru and South Florida. Our very own Miami Waterkeeper, Rachel Silverstein, sheds light on Miami Waterkeeper's efforts to protect and restore Biscayne Bay and the surrounding watershed.
Miami Waterkeeper is part investigator, scientist, educator, and legal advocate, functioning as a public spokesperson for our Bay, protecting your right to clean water and empowering you to defend your waterways too. Dr. Silverstein's passion for protecting the environment began at an early age while growing up along the Southern California coast. She's focused her career on the effects of climate change on reef corals and now serves as Miami Waterkeeper's Executive Director. The Miami Waterkeeper team works diligently to protect Florida Reefs from the impacts of dredging. This episode featured our work in the PortMiami deep dredge case which ultimately resulted in the restoration of 10,000 threatened staghorn corals.
Also in this episode, Dr. Silverstein illustrates how Biscayne Bay prevails as an environmental jewel to marine and human life combined -- with over a dozen threatened and endangered species, and its ecosystem services providing billions of dollars a year to our local economy.
“Keeping it blue, keeping it beautiful, keeping it healthy, is always a challenge in the backyard of dealing with municipal waste (with sewage spills) and landfills needed to keep a community going but it’s consequences pose a threat to the environment.” - Rachel Silverstein, PhD.
Bruno Monteferri, an environmental lawyer and ardent outdoorsman, is the Marañón Waterkeeper in Peru - also featured in the Visionaries episode. Bruno is working diligently to protect the River, naturally crafted by winds and currents over millions of years, from the implementation of a dam and reservoir system. While this operation would provide copious amounts of energy to Peru and neighboring countries, it would severely impact that River and, as a result, the Amazon basin.
Part of their strategy in increasing stewardship of the River includes eliciting experiential outreach methods to get people on the water. Maroñón Riverkeeper has developed partnerships with travel agencies that are committed to sustainable tourism, aiding in the success of this strategy.
Executive Director of Waterkeeper Alliance, Marc Yaggi, emphasizes that the Marañon River is the headwaters of the Amazon, described as the "lungs of our planet." This is why the Marañon Waterkeeper's work is so valuable and vital to the preservation of the greater ecosystem.
While Miami Waterkeeper focuses its efforts on the South Florida watershed, and Marañón Waterkeeper focuses on preserving the biodiversity of the Marañón, both organizations work alongside a network of experts to guide and shape efforts holistically -- sharing ideas and learning from each other as part of the greater Waterkeeper Alliance. The beauty of the Waterkeeper Alliance lies in the shared resource we are all working so hard to protect - our global watershed.
As Marañón Waterkeeper explains, “Water is sacred. It heals us; it protects us.” That is why Miami Waterkeeper, alongside over 300 Waterkeepers across the globe, will continue to protect this cherished resource we all share. Click HERE to watch the full episode and learn more about our global Waterkeeper Warriors!