The Below & Above Collective is a group of Rhode Island-based artists, designers, environmentalists, and a botanist, who have installed a “floating wetland” structure in Roger Williams Park’s Polo Lake. With support from the Stormwater Innovation Center, it was deployed in July of 2024.

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Polo Lake is especially prone to high nutrient loads and experiences cyanobacteria blooms every year. The floating wetland structure, made partially of foraged invasive Japanese knotweed stalks, was created to address these water quality issues and provide habitat for native plants and wildlife, but also serve as a conduit for community outreach and education. The wetland structure hosts a variety of native plants, like Joe Pye weed, New England aster, and swamp milkweed, that will provide food and shelter for native insects, birds, and more. Data will be collected to assess the efficacy of the plants’ nutrient uptake. Samples will also be taken from the structure to survey the kinds of life that have found their homes there.

 

For more information about the floating wetland, visit the Below & Above Collective Instagram www.instagram.com/belowandabovecollective/!