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The EWB Iowa Professional Chapter is only able to implement projects through charitable donations, sponsorships and grants. All donations are tax-deductible.
Every time we travel, we have some great experiences. We share some of our stories in our blog. You can also learn about upcoming local events as well as plans for future trips.
While EWB-USA projects focus primarily on engineering, volunteers come from a variety of fields such as public health, international development, marketing, accounting, and IT. We welcome a diversity of backgrounds to help us meet basic human needs worldwide. Looking for a new volunteer opportunity? Engineering change is a team effort, and everyone has an important role to play in our mission to build a better world. EWB-USA offers a variety of options for skilled professionals, corporate and student volunteers.
About 110 species are considered "mangroves", in the sense of being a tree that grows in such a saline swamp. For comparison, the tropical rainforest biome contains thousands of tree species, but this is not to say mangrove forests lack diversity. Though the trees themselves are few in species, the ecosystem that these trees create provides a home (habitat) for a great variety of other species.
Mangrove swamps protect coastal areas from erosion, storm surge (especially during hurricanes), and tsunamis. The mangroves' massive root systems are efficient at dissipating wave energy. While this is a benefit, the ability can be fleeting in the face of these phenomena. Mangrove swamps typically grow in areas where wave action is low. Large storms or prolonged high seas can severely damage them. In the process, habitat for algae, barnacles, oysters, sponges and bryozoans can disappear, as it did after the storms in El Salvador in 1998. This disruption in the food chain has had devastating effects on the people of the region. The efforts to restore and protect this ecosystem continue to this day.
The EWB Iowa Professional Chapter joined EcoViva and their partners in The Mangrove Alliance to protect El Salvador’s estuary and mangrove forest ecosystems, including the Bay of Jiquilisco. It is the largest protected area in the country at over 100,000 acres and was named a UN-recognized Ramsar Convention Wetland of International Importance in 2005 and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2007.
The Mangrove Alliance is a coalition of community-based conservation organizations concerned with protecting the mangrove forests of El Salvador. The Alliance was established in 2016 to facilitate coordination and collaboration among all the stakeholders concerned with the wellbeing of the mangrove forests of El Salvador.
The Mangrove Alliance’s strategy consists of three interconnected parts: (1) community-led stewardship of mangrove forest ecosystems, (2) action-oriented scientific research to strengthen conservation and restoration initiatives, and (3) smart coastal policy that puts the wellbeing of local people and the environment first.
After 25 years standing in solidarity with community organizations in Central America, EcoViva closed in early 2022.
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