Developing the next generation of conservationists

Herbert Maybank grew up in Rosemont, back when, as he recalls it, Rosemont was a self-sufficient, well-connected community filled with churches and schools. “It was a place where everyone knew each other. Where people watched each other’s kids. All of that has changed,” he says.  

Rosemont is a historic, primarily African American community with deep familial and generational relationships in the region. Situated between the Ashley and Cooper rivers in Charleston, the community has long been concerned about flooding caused by extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and decades of infrastructure failures. Many of these changes are consequences of climate impacts, transportation policies, industrial pollution, and increasing displacement through gentrification of Charleston and, thus, the small community of Rosemont that lies on its edge.  

Challenges Rosemont faces

• In the 1960s, Interstate 26 severed the Rosemont neighborhood, and the more recent Leatherman Port Terminal placed additional highway access ramps in the community.  
• The Lanxess chemical plant and two Superfund cleanup sites are located within roughly a half mile of Rosemont. 
• Rosemont ranks nationally in the 93rd percentile for asthma, 94th percentile for diabetes, and 94th in life expectancy.  

Rosemont currently ranks in the 90th percentile for flood risk. High tide events cause routine “sunny day flooding” and escalating rain volume in local storms coupled with rising sea levels are making conditions worse. 

A lack of functioning storm drains, and stormwater management systems worsens this flood risk. Rosemont is also surrounded by a degraded marsh system, with potential for restoration that could provide a buffer to flooding, but this natural system needs help recovering from decades of neglect. 

The Rosemont community is located at the neck of the Charleston peninsula. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has proposed a seawall for most of the Charleston peninsula which would provide a line of defense against sea level rise as well as flood protection, but the planned eight-mile structure falls short of Rosemont, so other solutions are needed. 

“People can’t walk in their houses when the roads flood. It impedes our movement. This never happened before all of these changes were made to the city. Now it’s normal for the whole length of the Rosemont community to get flooded,” says Herbet Maybank, a former resident of Rosemont and Rosemont Neighborhood Association’s community liaison to Lowcountry Alliance for Model Communities. 

We have our own culture and heritage. We are the last remnants of the Peninsula out of Charleston. We are being driven out of the community and displaced.

Herbert Maybank, Rosemont Neighborhood Association

A solution to Rosemont’s dangerous floodwaters

Recognizing these issues and the need for community engagement around solutions, the North Charleston-based Sustainability Institute of South Carolina has decided to use their experience in restoration to step in and help. In 2024, SI was awarded a $2.65 million Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grant, awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to build local capacity for salt marsh restoration and climate resilience work in Rosemont and three other communities along the South Carolina coast. The work in Rosemont will benefit 2,452 residents and protect 1,071 homes. 

Through the AmeriCorps service-learning program, the Sustainability Institute will provide training and employment opportunities to local community members who will assist with conducting salt marsh studies, implementing salt marsh restoration, and designing, building, and maintaining rain gardens that can capture and retain stormwater. The restoration project serves two important coastal community needs: upskilling the next generation of conservation leaders and performing critically needed conservation project work tailored to address neighborhood conditions. 

The Rosemont project is kicking off with a wetland study that will focus on characterizing the roughly 40 acres of salt marsh and tidal creeks that surround the community (often referred to as “the cove”). The study will include a field-based biological assessment of the salt marsh, installing hydrology monitoring equipment in the tidal creeks and salt marsh to capture tide levels, rainfall, stormwater flows, and marsh groundwater levels. And it will prepare several geographic information systems (GIS) maps, among other research. This ecological assessment will lay the groundwork for future work to bring the marsh back to life and make sure the community can fully benefit from this natural asset. 

In addition to the community restoration work, the project helps train young people participating as AmeriCorps service members in environmental conservation skills that promote climate resilience, quality of life, and sustainability through SI’s Environmental Conservation Corps (ECC). ECC pools youth talent aged 18-24 from local universities and local Charleston community members.  

For Jonathan Togami, a local to Charleston, who grew up on Sullivan’s Island and got his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Carolina, joining ECC has been especially rewarding. Togami’s family has lived on Sullivan’s Island for over three generations, and they have seen drastic changes to the area’s natural resources.  

I am passionate about conservation work in this area because I feel like I am doing my part to preserve the natural assets that this location has, as well as the beautiful place that my family has called home for over three generations.

Jonathan Togami, Environmental Conservation Corps

SI is already making a powerful mark on the landscape. In 2024 alone, the program led 28 oyster reef restoration projects along the breadth of the South Carolina coastline and constructed 3,970 feet of new oyster reef habitat. Over 195 AmeriCorps members have served in the program and contributed over 175,000 hours of conservation service.  

Funding freeze puts solutions at risk 

The Sustainability Institute’s work illuminates what is at stake if the Trump administration turns its back on climate solutions.

Pausing or withdrawing critical funds doesn’t make the local problems go away. It leaves local communities at greater risk.

That’s why SELC joined countless voices across the country, raising concerns about the blanket stoppage of critical federal funding that protects communities from the worst impacts of the climate crisis. We are committed to working with partners and communities to ensure funding continues to reach those that need it the most.