Environmental activists are fighting to keep the mangroves in Broward as developers want to remove them

There are 160 acres of mangroves in Dania Beach between the airport and Port Everglades, and a developer wants to put up a warehouse on a roughly five-acre parcel in the middle of the mangroves. Dr. Missy Williams is a biologist who runs the Dania Beach Monkey Sanctuary and Vervet Project.

"Once the mangroves are removed, you can't replicate this anywhere else. So we are concerned that a developer wants to carve out a five-acre parcel of mangrove just for a warehouse," she said.

Broward County Commissioners will vote on whether or not to remove that parcel from the Environmentally Sensitive Land Map. In a county filing, the owner said, "The existing wetland has been degraded, and the habitat is rapidly diminishing because of the invasion of exotic vegetation and the deterioration  caused by the industrial development in the surrounding area."

Dr. Williams said in contrast, the area is thriving.  She showed us pictures and videos of animals and birds that she says live here.

"It's a very healthy ecosystem. So to describe one, five-acre parcel as degraded, it's not accurate at all," she said.

The owner, Shlomi Melloul, did not want to go on camera but told me it's donating 1.3 acres back to the county for conservation.  Commissioner Beam Furr represents this area. He told me these are important wetlands and that he'd be voting against it. Dr. Williams fears that if a warehouse is built, it could set a dangerous precedent.

"You might just say, 'well, it's five acres now,' and then another developer will come in and take a three-acre parcel, and if we honor that mindset, we'll just keep chipping away at the mangroves until there are no more left," Dr. Williams said.

The issue will go before the Broward County Commission on March 3rd.