Naturally Central Florida
Naturally Central Florida—The Documentary Series
"Naturally Central Florida: Fitting the Pieces together", has been made into a seven-part documentary series, covering the following seven ecosystems: Indian River Lagoon, Kissimmee Prairie, Wekiva/Ocala Greenway, St. Johns Econlockhatchee Mosaic, Green Swamp, Volusia Conservation Corridor, and the Lake Wales Ridge. Each of these ecosystems, which were identified as seven "must-save places" in the Naturally Central Florida publication, will be featured in a half-hour segment on WMFE-24, on Sundays at 12:30 p.m. These Naturally Central Florida broadcasts are co-produced by Bob Giguere and Alicia Callanan-Mandigo of bGenesis in conjunction with the Metropolitan Center at UCF and myregion.org. For a complete schedule of Naturally Central Florida broadcasts please visit WMFE's website at www.wmfe.org/24/naturallycentralflorida. For additional information please call Sarah Ridley, Public Affairs Coordinator at the MetroCenter, at 407-823-0935.
Naturally Central Florida Summary
Central Floridians value a quality of life that includes access and the ability to enjoy our environment. There are seven natural jewels in our seven-county region worth preserving and protecting for generations to come. For the first time in history, dozens of our regional leaders joined forces this past Friday and something powerful happened!
On Friday, August 12, 2005 at the Cypress Gardens Best Western Admiral's Inn, myregion.org unveiled to its board members, distinguished guests, community leaders and members of the media a visionary and bold initiative to protect the critical natural areas that are left in Central Florida!
Naturally Central Florida: Fitting the Pieces Together is the first document in a community process to protect and sustain the exceptional ecosystems of Central Florida. Seven "jewels of our natural world" in Central Florida are identified and showcased. These are "must save" places with regional, national, (and in some cases) global ecological and economic value that benefit Florida and the Nation.
Our region's leaders agreed, time is of the essence! Central Florida, for the first time ever, has a unified community vision and a bold plan to protect our last great natural areas and historic places for future generations of Florida residents and visitors. These seven must save places include:
- St. Johns Mosaic / Econlockhatchee River
- The Indian River Lagoon
- The Kissimmee Prairie
- The Volusia Conservation Corridor
- The Green Swamp
- The Wekiva-Ocala Greenway
- The Lake Wales Ridge
Naturally Central Florida is a partnership between myregion.org and the University of Central Florida's Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies. To learn more please visit myregion.org
Naturally Central Florida is a cooperative land conservation effort jointly sponsored by the Metropolitan center for Regional Studies and the Environmental Task Force of myregion.org. The mission of the effort is to establish and protect a functional network of native habitats and green space to enhance and enrich the quality of life for all Central Floridians.
Desired Outcomes and Goals
- Ensure that viable examples of all of Central Florida's natural habitats and the native plants and animals that depend on them will persist in perpetuity.
- Enhance the character of our communities by framing our urban settlements with scenic, historic and agricultural open space buffers.
- Protect regional groundwater supplies, rivers, lakes and springs by ensuring critical upland recharge areas and wetland systems are maintained and enhanced.
- Protect and sustain the ecological, economic, aesthetic, and recreational value of estuarine and nearshore ocean resources.
- Provide rich and diverse recreational opportunities by ensuring every Central Florida family can have an experience of natural Florida within 20 minutes of their front door.
- Foster greater public knowledge, awareness, and appreciation of central Florida 's diverse and valuable natural assets.
Process
- Develop a scientifically-based regional land acquisition strategy that protects and sustains natural habitats (species), water resources, recreation, and agricultural area of regional and national significance.
- Develop and distribute a "position paper" that addresses the status, threats, opportunities and values of conservation land acquisition as a non-regulatory tool for community development and sustainability.
- Build a regional coalition of support for the regional land acquisition strategy within myregion.org and the 7-county region.
- Encourage funding (at local, regional, state, federal levels) to implement that land acquisition strategy.
Who will lead the effort? A regional community with a common vision.
- Individuals
- Local municipalities
- Counties
- State of Florida
- Federal agencies
- NGO's
Board Consensus: Regional Priorities/Regional Projects
- Brevard-Volusia Coastal Scrub (Brevard, Volusia)
- Econ River Corridor (Orange, Seminole)
- Indian River Lagoon Blueway (Volusia, Brevard, Indian River)
- Ocala-Wekiva Conservation Area (Lake, Orange, Seminole)
- Upper Kissimmee Osceola Plain (Brevard Orange, Osceola)
- Volusia-Flagler Conservation Corridor (Flagler, Volusia)
- Green Swamp (Lake, Polk)
Participation
| Mr. Will Abberger Southeast Regional Office The Trust for Public Land |
Ms. Joan Lind Jarvis UCF Metropolitan Center |
| Mr. Bob Bendick The Nature Conservancy |
Dr. Anne Keller U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Ms. Anne Birch The Nature Conservancy Florida Chapter |
Mr. Bill Kerr B.K.I., Inc. Consulting Ecologists |
| Mr. Greg Brock Department of Environmental Protection |
Mr. Charles Lee, Sr. Audubon of Florida |
| Mr. Ray Bunton St. Johns River Water Management District |
Mr. Steven R. Miller St. Johns River Water Management District |
| Ms. Linda W. Chapin University of Central Florida |
Reed F. Noss, Ph.D. University of Central Florida |
| Mr. Robert Christianson St. Johns River Water Management District |
Mr. Keith Schue Central Florida Sierra Club |
| Dr. Duane E. DeFreese Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute |
Mr. Mark W. Shamley Tupperware Corporation |
| Mr. John Hankinson | Ms. Vicki Tschinkel The Nature Conservancy |
| Mr. Clay Henderson Holland & Knight, LLP |
Mr. Doug Weaver Volusia County |
| C. Ross Hinkle, Ph.D. Dynamac Corporation |
Ms Jora M. Young The Nature Conservancy |