U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the NOAA Restoration Center have supported MRC's efforts to plant over two thousand mangroves along the shore of the Indian River Lagoon this past year. Several thousand more will be planted later this year and MRC has donated over a thousand mangroves to volunteer projects and residents seeking to restore their corner of the lagoon. Mangroves provide ideal habitat for fish and birds and mangrove leaves feed the bottom of the Lagoon food chain. In the photo on the right, young volunteers with the after-school program Prevent of Brevard, help pot mangroves to be grown in MRC greenhouses. Mangroves are grown to two feet in height before they are planted to increase their survival rates. Planting techniques pioneered by the MRC have increased survival rates by over 600%. A new technique used for the first time by the MRC last fall, utilized 6 - 12 feet tall mangroves and created an instant mature mangrove shoreline. The technique has so far resulted in 100% survival, with the mangroves already having flowered and produced seed in their first year.