The watershed, or the area of land that drains into the Port Royal Sound, is approximately 1,500 square miles, extending 70 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to blackwater swamps around Allendale. When we talk about the Port Royal Sound, most of us picture sparkling green water, sandy beaches, oyster beds jutting from the pluff mud, and endless expanses of green salt marsh. However, marshes and open water only make up about 20% of the watershed — the rest is comprised of land, including forest, wetlands, communities, roads, etc. The way we use and manage land in the watershed has a significant impact on the health of the Sound.
Port Royal Sound Foundation is monitoring changing land use and land cover — how land in the watershed is being conserved as natural space or converted to different uses — as an indicator of what is likely happening in the Sound. We primarily monitor this indicator using aerial photography and satellite imagery to measure changes in land cover over time. We also advocate for conservation of natural land cover — forests, wetlands, marshes — in places where it makes most sense to conserve the Port Royal Sound.
