Featured Projects

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This project seeks to enhance the quality and safety of sea turtle nesting beaches across Puerto Rico by removing direct and indirect threats to nesting females, nests, and hatchlings.

Key actions include installing wooden fencing and establishing native vegetation barriers along vulnerable shoreline areas.

These measures restrict vehicle access to beaches and prevent nesting females from crawling landward toward roads, significantly reducing the risk of vehicle strikes and mortality.

Native coastal plant species are used to restore natural beach vegetation, stabilize dunes, and improve overall habitat quality. Beyond their restoration benefits, these vegetative buffers also reduce light trespass from nearby urban areas—minimizing disorientation and lowering the risk of road mortality for both nesting females and hatchlings.

Through integrated restoration and threat mitigation strategies, this project strengthens long-term nesting success and supports the recovery of Puerto Rico’s sea turtle population.

The Coastal Plants Greenhouse, located at Bosque del Nuevo Milenio in San Juan, is dedicated to the propagation of native coastal plant species used in coastal habitat restoration projects throughout Puerto Rico.

The facility supports the production of resilient, locally adapted plants for dune, mangrove, and coastal ecosystem restoration, helping strengthen shoreline stability, enhance biodiversity, and promote long-term ecosystem recovery across the island. Species grown include sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera), cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco), sea purslane (Thespesia populnea), beachberry (Scaevola plumieri), hopbush (Dodonaea viscosa), button mangrove (Conocarpus erectus), and bay cedar (Suriana maritima), among others. 

Systematic, long-term population and habitat surveys are critical for evaluating the conservation status of endangered species and informing effective recovery strategies. We support the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources by conducting field surveys to assess the population status and habitat conditions of the Mona Ground Iguana (Cyclura stejnegeri) and the Mona Boa (Chilabothrus monensis). In addition to these efforts, we are involved in coastal habitat restoration projects and native plant propagation to enhance the ecosystem, which also supports sea turtle nesting. Data generated through this project directly support science-based management and conservation planning.

Introduced and feral species are one of the most serious threats to native wildlife in Puerto Rico, killing adult animals, preying on eggs and young, and causing widespread habitat degradation. These impacts can rapidly reduce populations of vulnerable and endangered species if left unmanaged. Effective conservation responses—including early detection, targeted trapping, population management, and protective fencing to prevent predation—are critical to reducing these threats. Urbanativa addresses this challenge by working closely with community-based organizations and government agencies to monitor invasive species and implement coordinated removal efforts that help protect native wildlife, support native plant propagation initiatives, and enhance coastal habitat restoration efforts, which are essential for the successful recovery of ecosystems and sea turtle nesting sites.