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The delta is a critical conduit between the rest of Alabama and the Gulf of Mexico — “a dynamo” that continually exchanges energy between the river systems and the Gulf, says Bill Finch, director of a forest research center. Two-thirds of the state drains to the delta, which cleans water and warehouses silt that could damage Mobile Bay and its renowned fisheries. It’s a spawning ground for many fish species. It’s home to hundreds of bird species, rare flowers and carnivorous plants.

So residents, scientists and environmentalists are working to protect the entire Alabama ecosystem considered crucial to the survival of species and the health of the delta and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico.

They’re acquiring property to prevent development and logging that chips away at forests, worsens flooding and threatens species — and as a buffer against climate change. They’re working with federal officials to alter dams that cut off fish from historic habitat and in urban areas to protect waterways and slow stormwater runoff.

And they’re trying to raise awareness of an important and unique area that many in the U.S. have never heard of and many in Alabama have never experienced.

“We can truly be protecting something that’s here rather than trying to restore something that’s been lost,” says Mitchell Reid, director of The Nature Conservancy in Alabama. “So many of North America’s systems are so altered that we’re trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together.”