A MANG employee plants a mangrove at Coconut Point Sanctuary.

Our newest conservation partner wants to spruce up the Indian River Lagoon and your closet! We are thrilled to work with Florida-based apparel company MANG to launch an exclusive Restore Our Shores (ROS) collection, with 10% of all proceeds donated to our lagoon restoration projects.

MANG launched in 2015 and operates under a “Buy One. Plant One.” initiative through which its team plants one mangrove for each item purchased. Since its inception, the company has planted over 300,000 mangroves in Florida, the Bahamas, Honduras and Africa! As part of our efforts to restore the lagoon, we have collaborated with MANG to collect, grow and plant mangroves in our own backyard.

During this week’s inaugural planting project, staff and volunteers from the MANG and the Zoo planted a total of 80 young red, black and white mangroves—59 of which were grown by the apparel company and 21 of which came from our Adopt-A-Mangrove program—at Coconut Point Sanctuary, an Environmentally Endangered Lands property in Melbourne Beach. This site also features aquatic grasses, oysters and clams installed by ROS in the past.

Mangroves are vital to the lagoon because their complex root systems hold the shoreline in place and provide habitat for hundreds of native species. They’re key players in the fight against climate change, too: acre for acre, mangrove forests store twice as much carbon as the Amazon Rainforest.

The ROS collection is only available through June 30, so make sure to grab your shirts, hats, bandanas and stickers soon!