Development of a Plan to Restore La Guachinanga Island and Canal to its Previous State

LaFortune, Christopher M.; Steinberg, Richard D.; Burke, Hannah J.; Cristiano, Lisa M.

Student Work

Development of a Plan to Restore La Guachinanga Island and Canal to its Previous State

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The Company for the Integral Development of the Cantera Peninsula (CDIPC) is an outreach program that aims to better the Cantera Peninsula through community engagement. One of the organization’s goals is to provide an environmental restoration plan for La Guachinanga Island, an island located outside of Cantera. The canal separating La Guachinanga Island from Cantera has filled in with vegetation and waste, creating a bridge that allows for predators to cross over and damage the island’s ecosystem. The bridge also decreases the water circulation around the island which leads to poor water quality. For our project, we worked with the CDIPC to bring together the ideas of various stakeholders to provide recommendations for the environmental restoration of La Guachinanga Island. We conducted interviews with various stakeholders including local and community organizations. Through the interviews, we identified stakeholder knowledge about trash accumulation around the island. In analyzing previous restoration attempts and interviewing environmental restoration experts, we assessed the methods for cleanup and identified gaps in previous plans. To engage the community through the project, we conducted focus group meetings to assess community involvement ideas and benefits. We produced posters to be spread in the community and took steps towards planning a community cleanup day as well as a festival to honor La Guachinanga Island. Lastly, we combined all of the information gathered into a set of recommendations for future environmental restoration plans to encompass the needs of the various stakeholders involved in the plan.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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