{"id":179711,"date":"2026-03-05T20:15:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T20:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/179711\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T20:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T20:15:15","slug":"tampa-bay-nature-group-removes-invasive-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/179711\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay nature group removes invasive species"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA \u2014\u00a0A Tampa Bay-based organization is getting people out into nature, to help save it. The group, Mindful Action for Regeneration<\/a>\u00a0(MAR), is working to rid our green spaces of invasive species, replacing them with their native counterparts.<\/p>\n

With Women’s History Month focusing on a “sustainable future” this year, Spectrum Bay News 9 met up with one of the group\u2019s founders to talk about reconnecting with nature and the female force behind it.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

The theme of this year’s Women’s History Month is “Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future,” according to the national nonprofit focused on promoting the month-long holiday
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Mindful Action for Regeneration<\/a> brings volunteers into Tampa Bay nature to remove invasive species and plant native trees and shrubs
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Since its inception, MAR has helped removed 8,000 pounds of invasive species<\/p>\n

Folly Farm in Safety Harbor is looking a lot greener these days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s exciting, it’s new, it’s fresh, it’s alive,\u201d said Michelle Ellena, with MAR.<\/p>\n

It’s thanks, in part, to the work of MAR, or Mindful Action for Regeneration. The group is focused on all things clean: for nature, for water, and for yourself, and the executive director says women are leading the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoincidentally, it just so happens that our team is \u2014 we are six women. That just happened by chance and we love it,\u201d Ellena said.<\/p>\n

MAR assembles volunteers and grounds them in nature through their work, pulling up invasive spaces and replanting native trees that better serve the environment.<\/p>\n

Not only is it good for the space, like on Folly Farm, it’s good for the people doing the work. Just ask William Moriaty, who works with the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight there, see that sort of cone shaped, real tall spiring tree? That’s what these will all become,\u201d said Moriaty.<\/p>\n

He ran another local reforestation group, until joining forces with MAR in 2023.<\/p>\n

Overall, MAR stated it has more than 900 volunteers who have come through their program, helping them remove 8,000 pounds of invasive species and plant more than 2,800 native trees and shrubs.<\/p>\n

MAR also leads marine conservation and clean waters efforts and helps lift human wellbeing\u00a0too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, the importance of (our work), Andy, is the future. And trying to have an environmentally equitable future for the park users and nature itself,\u201d said Moriaty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there’s nothing better than getting to work outside, and hearing the birds and touching the soil and seeing, also, baby trees grow after a certain amount of years and realizing, ‘Hey, that was something that we did in community and together,\u2019\u201d Ellena said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014\u00a0A Tampa Bay-based organization is getting people out into nature, to help save it. The group, Mindful…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[4323,274,276,115,135,137,136,278,53989],"class_list":["post-179711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-andy-cole","tag-app-top-stories","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-top-stories","tag-womens-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}