10 Environmental Organizations in Florida

Various environmental organizations in Florida, United States have evolved due to environmental disruption and deterioration over the years.

Human actions affect and alter the consequences being held in the environment, and these have led to repercussions like global warming, deforestation, overuse of fossil fuels, and devastation of natural resources present in the environment.

The sudden menace in the climate that is intimidating the welfare of our planet is the result of reckless human activities over time. The main role of environmental organizations is to help save, protect, analyze, and monitor the environment and make our planet a better place for future generations.

There are 1,357 environmental organizations in Florida. Hence, in this article, we are going to discuss 10 environmental organizations in Florida.

10 Environmental Organizations in Florida

Here is a list and discussion of 10 environmental organizations in Florida.

• Florida Conservation Coalition
• Conservation Florida
• Florida Oceanographic Society
• Florida’s Nature Coast Conservancy
• Conservation  Alliance of St. Lucie County
• All EarthJustice Staff
• Florida Forever
• Lemur Conservation Foundation
• Everglades Foundation
• IDEAS For Us

1. Florida Conservation Coalition

Florida’s natural resources are a treasure to be conserved for the people of Florida and must be managed judiciously, not squandered.

The Florida Conservation Coalition is committed to protecting and conserving Florida’s land, fish and wildlife, and water resources that are essential to the well-being and quality of life of the residents of this state, and for its long-term economic prosperity.

The organization focuses on ensuring that the state safeguards are in place to protect and properly manage the supply and quality of Florida’s water resources.

The FCC supports meaningful funding for land conservation to protect sensitive natural lands, water resources, and wildlife habitat, as well as offer recreational opportunities to citizens and tourists.

The organization also supports an effective state and regional process of managing growth and development to maintain and enhance the quality of life for present and future Floridians.

To achieve this, citizens have been involved and engaged at all levels.

2. Conservation Florida

Conservation Florida is a statewide land conservation organization whose focus is on connecting and protecting the Florida Wildlife Corridor, from Pensacola to the Florida Keys.

Conservation Florida is in partnership with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Defense (DOD) and has permanently conserved the 2,526-acre Role Tran property (previously known as Triple Diamond Ranch) in Okeechobee County. Conservation Florida is a non-profit land conservancy, and donations are tax-deductible.

It is grounded by a deep love for Florida and a history of impactful boots-on-the-ground land conservation working statewide to protect Florida’s water, wildlife, and wild places and conserve the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Over 11,000 acres of agricultural land that will add to the protection of a functional Florida Wildlife Corridor are on the protection path.

3. Florida Oceanographic Society

Florida Oceanographic Society is a non-profit organization founded by James H. Rand and five community leaders in 1964 and its goal is to inspire environmental stewardship of Florida’s coastal ecosystems through education and research.

4. Florida’s Nature Coast Conservancy

Florida’s Nature Coast Conservancy (FNCC) is a non-profit designated land trust founded in 1993. This organization is dedicated to acquiring land in trust for preservation, conservation, or public recreation.

The FNCC encourages, assists, and educates local governments, communities, and organizations in the acquisition of these environmentally endangered, historic, or archaeologically significant lands.

The preservation of land is accomplished by acquiring real property or partial interests therein including conservation easements and other appropriate instruments necessary to protect the physical environment of these lands for wildlife, ecological, recreational, aesthetic, and open space purposes beneficial to the public interest.

The organization is funded by grants, membership dues, and gifts of land or conservation easements.

5. Conservation  Alliance of St. Lucie County

The Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County non-profit, non-partisan, non-political organization established in 1972 by local citizens who were becoming aware of the growing threat to our natural resources and environment.

The Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County, Florida, is focused on taking actions to protect the water, soil, air, and native flora and fauna upon which all earth’s creatures depend for survival.”

6. All Earthjustice Staff

Earthjustice is focused on protecting the waterways and wildlife in Florida. Earthjustice represents the National Wildlife Federation, Florida Wildlife Federation, and Apalachicola Riverkeeper in a challenge to the Corps’ operations.

Florida’s vast wetlands are essential to wildlife, hurricane resilience, and drinking water.  In 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authorized Florida to permit dredging and filling of wetlands protected under the Clean Water Act by sidestepping essential federal protections.

Earthjustice challenged EPA’s action in Washington, D.C., representing the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Defenders of Wildlife, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Miami Waterkeeper, Sierra Club, and St. Johns River Keeper.

Manatees in Florida are dying at high rates as water pollution kills their main food source.  Florida has repeatedly failed to rein in the sources of this pollution.  Representing Save the Manatee Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and CBD, Earthjustice is suing EPA for failing to step in.

In the transition to clean energy, Earthjustice is pushing back against utility-driven “community solar” programs that make for good PR but are designed to benefit mostly the utilities and their largest customers while undermining a true transition to solar energy. 

On behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Florida (LULAC), Earthjustice challenged the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) approval of one such program at the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled 6 to 1 that the PSC had not adequately explained the approval.

On behalf of Florida Rising, LULAC, and ECOSWF, Earthjustice is also challenging Florida Power and Light Company’s (FPL) recent effort to expand its own faux “community solar” program through a settlement with friendly parties that gives the utility the largest rate increase in Florida history to subsidize FPL’s largest customers.

Earthjustice continues to hold the line on energy efficiency, the cheapest and easiest way to reduce electric bills and greenhouse gas emissions.  Having defeated FPL’s plan to adopt zero energy efficiency and demand-side management goals, Earthjustice continues to fight to reform the goal-setting process to incentivize energy efficiency.

Standing With Communities Burdened by Pollution, Earthjustice is fighting back alongside its partner Florida Rising to challenge a polluting incinerator in a Latinx community in Miami and to enforce civil rights protections.

Alongside the American Friends Service Committee, Earthjustice exposed environmental hazards at the Homestead detention center for unaccompanied migrant children, located next to a Superfund site, and sued to compel the release of related records under the Freedom of Information Act. 

In partnership with immigrant rights groups, Earthjustice demanded that the EPA investigate the harmful use of chemical disinfectants at the Glades County Detention Center.

Earthjustice is challenging EPA’s unconditional registration of the antibiotic Streptomycin as a pesticide for citrus without assessing health harms to farm workers, impacts to endangered species, or the risk of accelerating antibiotic resistance. 

Along with the Natural Resources Defense Council and CBD, Earthjustice represents the Farm Worker Association of Florida, Farm Worker Justice, Migrant Clinicians Network, Beyond Pesticides, and ECOSWF.

7. Florida Forever

This is a land conservation program in Florida which passed into law by the Florida Legislature In 1999, as the Florida Forever Act.

Since the program was created in July 2001, the state of Florida has purchased more than 818,616 acres of land with a little over $3.1 billion (as of July 2020).

Approximately 2.5 million acres have been purchased under the program and its predecessor, Preservation 2000. The program is popular, and few Floridians favor cutting the funding for it, according to a 2011 poll.

In 2020, the program received $100 million as part of HB 5001.

8. Lemur Conservation Foundation

The Lemur Conservation Foundation (LCF) is a non-profit organization by Penelope Bodry-Sanders under the advisement of paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall in 1996.

It is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the primates of Madagascar through managed breeding, scientific research, education, and art.

The organization’s reserve is in Myakka City, Florida, United States, and is home to more than 50 lemurs of several different species, most of which are critically endangered or endangered, including ring-tailed lemurs, red-ruffed lemurs, mongoose lemurs, collared brown lemurs, common brown lemurs, and Sanford’s lemurs.

LCF offers internship opportunities in primate husbandry and research. The organization has initiated more than a dozen community-based conservation programs including several silky sifaka research projects.

9. Everglades Foundation

The Everglades Foundation was formed in 1993 by a group of outdoor enthusiasts, environmentalists, and residents of Florida (late George Barley, a wealthy Orlando developer, and billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II) who were concerned over the decline of the Everglades and the resulting damage in nearby natural and protected areas such as Florida Bay.

The original founding members campaigned for the organization’s growth and shared the same concern over the steady decline of the environmental balance in this unique and delicate ecosystem due to poor water management and pollution.

The organization is located in Palmetto Bay, Florida, and is currently operated as a not-for-profit organization. This organization is supported by noteworthy performers, professional athletes, and business persons, including Jimmy Buffett and golfer Jack Nicklaus.

10. IDEAS For Us

IDEAS For Us is a United Nations-accredited non-governmental organization that works to advance sustainability through local action projects in countries and on campuses around the world. IDEAS For Us was formed in 2008 by Henry Harding and Chris Castro

The organization focuses on reaching communities that are far from sustainable development and advancing the global goals for sustainable development by helping to develop, fund, and scale local action projects from within communities that have the potential to grow into ongoing programs.

IDEAS For Us has three major programs: Fleet Farming (an urban agricultural program), Hive (a community think/do tank), and the Solutions Fund (an international micro-granting philanthropic branch that supports projects related to the 17 Global Goals).

IDEAS For Us seeks to “Educate, Engage, and Empower” youth of all ages on environmental issues. The organization seeks to provide a means for a group of individuals to make a positive change in their environmental community. Its headquarters are located in Orlando, Florida, United States

Conclusion

Environmental Protection and conservation is essential because we don’t have a planet B. These organizations located in Florida have been working tirelessly to see to the conservation of our planet. In the same way, you can play your role in safeguarding the environment. We’ve got only one planet.

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