MIAMI — Miami-Dade County has announced a $925,000 donation delivered by conservation groups for the acquisition and management of critically endangered pine rocklands.
The funds will go to Miami-Dade County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands Management Trust Fund and are earmarked for the acquisition or management of pine rocklands in the county. The program manages more than 1,636 acres of pine rocklands and has more than 415 acres of pine rockland habitat currently on its acquisition list.
Florida’s pine rocklands were historically found across the Miami Rock Ridge, extending from north of downtown Miami west into Everglades National Park and south into the Florida Keys. Today less than 2% of pine rocklands remain in urban Miami-Dade County outside Everglades National Park. Pine rocklands also exist in the Keys, primarily on Big Pine Key, and in small patches in Big Cypress National Preserve.
These forests are characterized by a tall canopy of South Florida slash pines growing in sandy soils and limestone, with a diverse low-growing understory of tropical and temperate flowers, herbs and shrubs. The forests support more than 400 native plants and dozens of imperiled species who rely on this habitat for their survival, such as the endangered Florida bonneted bats, Miami tiger beetles, Florida leafwing butterflies, brickell bushes and others.
Miami’s pine rocklands were destroyed and degraded by urban development, leaving behind only a small fraction of the more than 186,000 acres that once covered the area. Many remaining forested areas in the county’s urban center are still at risk.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Miami Pine Rocklands Association, South Florida Wildlands Association and the Tropical Audubon Society transferred the donation.
“Because these uplands were naturally high and dry, they required no drainage canals and became the first areas developed in the county,” said Matthew Schwartz, executive director of South Florida Wildlands Association. “Communities such as Coral Gables, Coconut Grove and Pinecrest now stand where vast expanses of wild, biologically rich pine rocklands once flourished. Our hope is that this donation will help acquire, protect and restore a portion of the roughly 2% of Miami-Dade County’s original pine rockland habitat that remains today.”
“Pine rocklands are integral to Miami-Dade’s natural heritage. Protecting them now is one of the most effective ways we can safeguard this rare ecosystem, while supporting future restoration,” added Lauren Jonaitis, executive director of Tropical Audubon Society. “This donation reflects our collective commitment to conserving these extraordinary forests and the remarkable plants and animals that depend on them. Together, we’re helping ensure that pine rocklands remain a vital part of the South Florida landscape for generations to come.”