{"id":339133,"date":"2026-07-14T00:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/339133\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T00:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:58:11","slug":"miami-dade-receives-925000-donation-for-critically-endangered-pine-rocklands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/339133\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami-Dade Receives $925,000 Donation for Critically Endangered Pine Rocklands"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Center for Biological Diversity, Miami Pine Rocklands Association, South Florida\u00a0Wildlands Association and Tropical Audubon Society delivered a $925,000 donation to Miami-Dade County\u2019s Environmentally Endangered Lands Program to help acquire, manage and restore critically endangered Pine Rocklands. The contribution,\u00a0announced by the county last week<\/a>, will strengthen protections for the endangered Florida bonneted bat, Miami tiger beetle, Florida leafwing butterfly, Brickell-bush\u00a0and dozens of other imperiled animals and plants that call the county home.<\/p>\n

\u201cPine Rocklands are integral to Miami-Dade\u2019s natural heritage. Protecting them now is one of the most effective ways we can safeguard this rare ecosystem, while supporting future restoration,\u201d said Lauren Jonaitis, executive director of Tropical Audubon Society. \u201cThis donation reflects our collective commitment to conserving these extraordinary forests and the remarkable plants and animals that depend on them. Together, we\u2019re helping ensure that Pine Rocklands remain a vital part of the South Florida landscape for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once spanning much of urban Miami-Dade County, Pine Rocklands have been destroyed and degraded by urban development, leaving behind only a small fraction of the more than 186,000 acres that historically covered the area. Many remaining forested areas in the county\u2019s urban center are still at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can give Miami\u2019s most endangered creatures a fighting chance by restoring as many acres of Pine Rocklands as possible. This money will go a long way to help,\u201d said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity.\u00a0\u201cThis is a community effort. Whether you\u2019re enchanted by jewel-like Miami tiger beetles or struck breathless at the sight of a Florida bonneted bat soaring across the night sky, there\u2019s something you can do to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully this guarantees some Pine Rocklands and their related habitats here will be allowed to flourish for future generations to enjoy more than today\u2019s uncontrolled urban sprawl,\u201d said Al Sunshine, president of the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Miami-Dade Pine Rocklands, also known as the Miami Rock Ridge, once stretched from the current City of North Miami Beach to what is now Everglades National Park,\u201d said Matthew Schwartz, executive director of South Florida Wildlands Association. \u201cBecause these uplands were naturally high and dry, they required no drainage canals and became the first areas developed in the county. 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\u2019s original Pine Rockland habitat that remains today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Center for Biological Diversity, Miami Pine Rocklands Association, South Florida Wildlands Association and the Tropical Audubon Society transferred the donation. The funds will go to Miami-Dade County\u2019s Environmentally Endangered Lands Management Trust Fund and are expressly 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.<\/p>\n

Pine Rocklands are home to\u00a0more than 20 species<\/a>\u00a0protected under the federal Endangered Species Act and dozens more rare and imperiled mammals, reptiles, insects and plants found nowhere else on Earth.<\/p>\n

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 are adapted to periodic natural fire, which helps support more than 400 native plants and dozens of imperiled species who rely on this beautiful habitat for their survival.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Founded in 1947, Tropical Audubon Society is a science- and solutions-based nonprofit conservation organization driven by its grassroots community and principles of equity, diversity and inclusion. Tropical Audubon\u2019s Legacy is to protect, conserve and restore South Florida ecosystems by working closely with local governments and other stakeholders, and by fostering wise stewardship of native habitats, birds and other indigenous wildlife. Learn more at\u00a0www.tropicalaudubon.org<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0The\u00a0Center for Biological Diversity<\/a>\u00a0is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.8 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The\u00a0Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition<\/a>\u00a0is is a non-profit, 501(c) (3) tax-exempt organization committed to preserving and protecting through active engagement the remaining endangered pine rockland ecosystems in Miami-Dade County, and the marvelous plant, insect and animal biodiversity it embraces, for all present and future generations.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Founded in March of 2010,\u00a0South Florida Wildlands Association<\/a>\u00a0has gained recognition as a powerful local voice for the protection of wildlife and habitat in the Greater Everglades. SFWA is a local, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization committed to aggressively defending what remains of one of our planets most unique natural areas.<\/p>\n


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