The Florida Wildlife Corridor is a collaborative vision by leading national and statewide conservation organizations to connect remaining natural lands, waters, working farms and ranches from the Everglades to Georgia, protecting a functional ecological corridor for the health of people, wildlife and watersheds.
The centerpiece of the outreach strategy is the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition, scheduled to launch January 17, 2012. A small team will trek approximately 1,000 miles over 100 days, photographing, writing and creating a documentary film along the way. They will traverse the Everglades ecosystem into Big Cypress, over to the Everglades Agricultural Area, back to the Okaloacoochee Slough, across the Caloosahatchee, over to Babcock Ranch, back along Fisheating Creek toward Lake Okeechobee, up the Kissimmee River with excursions toward the Lake Wales Ridge, up the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, east around Orlando into Ocala National Forest, and north to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia. The expedition team will be joined at various stages by local citizens, reporters, landowners, politicians, students and celebrity guests. Their grassroots campaign will show that we can still keep Florida connected for wildlife, water and people
The Florida Wildlife Corridor aims to protect and restore connected landscapes throughout the Florida Peninsula to create a viable corridor from the Everglades to Georgia. The corridor addresses the fragmentation of natural landscapes and watersheds from the Everglades ecosystem north. Contributing to the fragmentation problem is the disconnect between the perceptions of Floridians, and the real need to keep natural systems connected. The Florida Wildlife Corridor is positioned to mend the perception gap through an education and awareness campaign that demonstrates the connection between the landscapes and watersheds. If we show Floridians the panthers, bears, native cultures, ranchlands and rivers and how they are all connected, then they can help us make the Florida Wildlife Corridor a reality.
- Protect and restore dispersal and migration corridors essential for the survival of Florida’s diverse wildlife, including wide-ranging panthers and black bears
- Protect and connect habitat for all of the other native species that live in the corridor
- Restore water flow to the Everglades and sustain water supply to southern Florida
- Safeguard the St. Johns River and water supply from Orlando north to Jacksonville
- Sustain the food production, economies and cultural legacies of working ranches and farms within the corridor
- Give wildlife and plants room to adapt to a changing climate and sea level rise
The Florida Wildlife Corridor opportunity exists today thanks to decades of dedication by numerous individuals and organizations, including Larry Harris, Johnny Jones, the Florida Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation Trust for Florida, Audubon of Florida, numerous state and federal agencies, cattle ranchers, farmers and others. Future success will rely upon continued focus and collaboration. Present-day initiatives such as Everglades restoration, Everglades Headwaters protection, expanding the National Wildlife Refuge network, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s investment in conservation easements on Florida ranches, and voluntary conservation programs such as Florida Forever, all offer great hope for the possibility of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
The Florida Wildlife Corridor project was established on Earth Day 2010, founded by Dr. Tom Hoctor, Director of the Center for Landscape and Conservation Planning at the University of Florida and Carlton Ward Jr, Conservation Photographer and founder of the Legacy Institute for Nature & Culture (LINC). Their vision and collaboration was inspired by the bear research of David Maehr and the commitment of his students, Wade Ulrey and Joseph Guthrie, to continue his legacy.
The Florida Ecological Greenways Network has identifies several priority landscape connections throughout the state, including the Ocala to Osceola greenway (O2O) and the Fisheating Creek to Ocala greenway. These greenway projects have been combined with proposed landscape connections south toward the Everglades provide the underlying science for the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
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Project Contacts
