How Lower Ninth Ward Residents Created a Haven for Birds and People

For Rashida Ferdinand, stepping into Sankofa Wetland Park is like walking back in time.  Growing up in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Ferdinand and other neighborhood children spent their days exploring the wetland. But slowly, over time, the land fell into disrepair due to decades of state neglect, which only worsened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 

Now, thanks to a collaboration between local residents and the Sankofa Community Development Corporation (CDC), which Ferdinand founded in 2008, the area has been restored to its previous natural glory and is officially known as the Sankofa Wetland Park and Nature Trail. A nonprofit focused on community health and creating economic opportunity in the Lower Ninth, Sankofa CDC has worked closely with the residents over the past few years on the project. Looking at the ambling paths and thriving cypress trees winding around the park’s central pond, it’s hard for even Ferdindand to believe the area was an overgrown lot filled with trash not even 10 years ago. “Seeing butterflies, birds, and other pollinators in the park is a sign of a healthy ecosystem,” she says. “All we had to do was create the right conditions.”

In 2017,  Sankofa CDC entered into a partnership with the City of New Orleans to develop the 40-acre vacant plot along the Lower Ninth’s northern edge with a bold vision: to restore the wetland ecosystem as a buffer against flooding while also bringing economic development to the area. Sankofa CDC does not own the land in the form of a deed, eschewing transactional definitions of land ownership for something more collective. Now in its final phase, the park has become not just a rejuvenated green space, but an oasis for wildlife and residents. 

The Lower Ninth’s infrastructure challenges tell a story of historical neglect. Crumbling roads and insufficient drainage systems have long plagued the area. Coupled with its low-lying elevation and proximity to the Mississippi River, the ward remains particularly vulnerable to flooding after extreme storms. Wetlands—known for their ability to absorb stormwater—are a much-needed resilience measure against increasingly severe weather fueled by climate change. 

“As a kid I remember frequently seeing my neighbors get around with boats after a hard rain, because the water went up to our porch,” Ferdinand says. Her family survived Hurricane Betsy, a Category 4 hurricane that flooded 164,000 homes in 1965, long before Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005. The storm surge from Katrina breached the city’s system of levees and pumps intended to hold back water, submerging 80 percent of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth was ground zero of the hurricane’s destruction. 

The Lower Ninth has a rich cultural heritage, producing influential musicians like Fats Domino and celebrating traditions like second-line parades and Mardi Gras. Before Katrina, the neighborhood had one of the highest rates of Black home ownership in the city. Now, only a third of the original original 14,000 residents remain, and blighted lots are a common sight. Having faced the devastation of multiple hurricanes, residents care deeply about climate resilience. “Hurricane protection is a major concern in the community, but there’s a lack of trust in the infrastructure systems that are supposed to protect us,” Ferdinand says.

When Sankofa CDC secured the derelict stretch of land, the organization and locals saw an opportunity to create this resilience and revitalize the neighborhood. Working with the rivers, trails, and conservation assistance program within the National Park Service, Sankofa CDC hosted community meetings to gain feedback at each stage of the park’s design. Insights from these meetings informed the park’s master plan and amenities, including a multi-use trail for walking and biking that residents requested. Though Sankofa CDC spearheaded the restoration effort, local volunteers were integral: They uprooted more than a thousand invasive tallow trees and planted new, native flora. The project also faced unexpected challenges, like when staff uncovered over 27,000 cubic meters of trash underground, which required special equipment to remove and delayed their timeline.      

All together, more than 500 bald cypress and water tupelo trees—native species known to withstand heavy storm winds—along with 1,000 herbaceous plants were planted throughout the park. Meanwhile, ponds running the length of the park are designed to retain excess rainwater during storms while providing a cool habitat in an otherwise hot, urban landscape. These initial improvements attracted wildlife not seen in the area since the 1960s. The park is now home to reptiles, amphibians, beavers, and otters, and more than 100 species of birds have been spotted on the grounds.

In addition to flood prevention, Ferdinand and her Sankofa CDC colleagues also view the project as an opportunity to restore a natural resource that was taken from residents. In 1963 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a channel to connect the Gulf of Mexico with New Orleans’ inner harbor. As a result, saltwater from the Gulf degraded more than 31 miles of wetlands across coastal New Orleans, including swampland in the Lower Ninth. It soon became a barren scrub forest and site for illegal dumping. 

“Growing up, we used to catch crawfish, crab, gar fish, and hunt rabbits in the swamp. We even used the trees for lumber,” says Keith Craft, a lifelong Lower Ninth resident since the 1950s who is now a Sankofa Wetland Park Ambassador. Craft has a deep relationship with the Lower Ninth, after evacuating during Katrina and returning to rebuild his home. “When the swamp dried up, it felt like something was stolen from us, because it helped us put food on the table.” The hope is that a renewed wetland will offer a recreational space for birding, fishing, and other pursuits.    

“Now that the wetlands have been restored, resident birds are finally coming back,” says Jason Day, a wetland scientist who conducts environmental monitoring of the park for Comite Resources, an environmental consulting firm. He continues to be amazed at the diversity of migrant and resident bird species spotted in quarterly bird surveys. Egrets, herons, ducks, and all kinds of shorebirds are mainstays, and Roseate Spoonbills and Blue Grosbeaks are becoming more common.

In the last five years, the park has even become a hotspot for the city’s birding community, especially in light of rare bird sightings. “Sankofa was one of the first places you could reliably see a Limpkin in Louisiana,” says Peter Yaukey, a biology professor who leads monthly birding hikes there. The park’s unmanaged woods with fruiting mulberry trees, freshwater, and dense vegetation along its edges are particularly attractive for migrating birds. “Birds migrating across the Gulf of Mexico often wind up in New Orleans scrambling to find habitat to refuel for the rest of their journey,” Yaukey says. “Sankofa has plenty of mature trees with thick understory which are really lacking in urban landscapes—it’s truly a refuge for migratory birds.”

Slated for completion in the fall of 2025 with an outdoor amphitheater and more trails, the park now includes picnic areas, interpretive signage, outdoor recreation facilities, a fishing dock, and a wheelchair-accessible trail that connects the Lower Ninth to adjoining neighborhoods. Sankofa CDC staff hope that the park’s growing popularity will spur broader economic investment in the Lower Ninth: new small businesses, the rebuilding of homes, and patronage from birders and other tourists. Staff are also mobilizing support to restore a larger wetland just north of the park, which would provide even more ecological services to the area. 

In the meantime, the park is already yielding community benefits. Because Sankofa Wetland Park is located at the lowest-lying point in the Lower Ninth, stormwater that would otherwise flood nearby streets is absorbed by the wetland park’s pond. Anecdotally, the park absorbed some excess rainwater from Hurricane Ida in 2021, though Comite Resources is still working to quantify the wetland’s storage capacity. Residents regularly jog along the park’s winding trails and organize gatherings in its open field. Sankofa CDC also hosts environmental educational programs in the park, affording students direct opportunities to engage with nature. 

Despite some setbacks along the way, the Sankofa Wetland Park is the collective dream of generations past and present, according to Ferdinand. “There is a unique beauty in restoring what was already there,” she says. “It’s how we honor the stewards before us who respected this land and saw its value from the very beginning.”