Corridor Connect: Ecology + Economy for a Better Florida brought together leaders from the business and conservation community to look for solutions and identify ways to help balance Florida’s growth while also protecting the remaining half-million acres of critical Corridor links that are at risk of development by 2030. Thank you to the 500+ attendees across 200+ partner organizations who came together to connect, build solutions, and amplify the Corridor movement!

Over the past year a group of landowner representatives, agency staff, and conservation leaders met to discuss and make recommendations for Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs to secure the Florida Wildlife Corridor. The group worked from a common understanding of PES:

“Payment for Ecosystem Services is a voluntary agreement that allows public agencies or private interests to make payments that secure from a landowner provision and improvement of clearly defined specific ecosystem services and provide incentives to the landowner to continue and improve land uses that are both economically sustainable and beneficial to the environment.”

The discussions and recommendations are published in a report. People interested in the topic of how to use PES programs to help conserve land while retaining agricultural practices are encouraged to read the full report.

There are 7 million acres of working lands (ranchlands and timberlands) in the Corridor, nearly 40% of the Corridor. Of these 7 million acres, 13% are conserved lands. There are 3.2 million acres of ranchlands in the Corridor, or 18% of the Corridor. 18% of ranchlands are currently conserved lands. There are 3.8 million acres of timberlands in the Corridor, or 22% of the Corridor. 9% of timberlands are currently conserved lands. Note – In this analysis, timberlands do not include land managed for timber in State or National Forests. Of the Corridor’s 8.1 million acres of opportunity areas, 33% are ranchlands and 43% are timberlands.

If you are a landowner interested in helping do you part in protecting wild Florida, the resources below may be able to help.