Thinking Big, Acting Small: Conservation in Northeast Florida

During a recent Donors Forum, three environmental leaders discussed the challenges and opportunities of conservation in Northeast Florida. Their message was clear: environmental issues require big-picture thinking because they touch all aspects of people’s lives, affecting the economy, health, and recreation, but progress can be made through relatively small steps.

In a conversation facilitated by Foundation President Isaiah M. Oliver, leaders described conservation projects that are giving them hope that Florida can manage its growth in ways that protect natural resources and serve people.

For example, Lesley Bertolotti, a water resources specialist at the Nature Conservancy, is involved in a project called the Outside Sustainable Landscape Collaborative, which works with industry and large communities to implement environmentally friendly landscapes. The project has already impacted 30,000 acres outside of Orlando and 70,000 acres in Southeast Florida with promising results: a 60% reduction in water use from homes with environmentally friendly yards.

“What we’re focused on is advancing what we call living landscapes that don’t require irrigation after they’re established. They don’t require mineralized fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and they really promote biodiversity,” Bertolotti said. “We’re working within industries and communities to invite nature into where we live and into where we work. It’s shifting the mindset of what our landscape should look like.”

In Jacksonville, St. Johns Riverkeeper’s Resilient Ribault project is restoring oyster beds to improve water quality and mitigate flooding. It’s also engaging the people who live near the river in enjoying their access to natural spaces along the waterfront. The work was supported by grant to LISC and the Riverview Community Collective Organization through the Northeast Florida Conservation Fund.

“It’s finding ways to address these big watershed-wide issues at the local level, where people have that sense of place and connection and we’re all pulling in the same direction,” said Lisa Rinaman, the St. Johns Riverkeeper. “It has been really beneficial to tackling the bigger problem of rising water in our community and the watershed.”

Finally, the Okefenokee Swamp’s inscription as a World Heritage Site stands out as a recent success story that offers lessons learned for others working on behalf of conservation.

Kim Bednarek, Executive Director of Okefenokee Swamp Park, described the 44-year journey to inscription, which involved demonstrating that the tourism economy could outgrow the mining industry, fundraising $1 million in support (including from Delores Barr Weaver through her donor advised fund at The Community Foundation), and securing support from both the Biden and Trump presidential administrations. The swamp achieved World Heritage Site status this summer in South Korea, elevating an area in Jacksonville’s back yard to the world stage.

“The only way we do this work around conservation, community, resiliency, and prosperity, is through public-private partnership, bipartisan support, and with significant investment from philanthropy,” Bednarek said.