Publisher’s Note
Nature conservation is the ethical/moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity.
Florida is fortunate to have many reputable conservation organizations and areas tendered through careful maintenance and upkeep of natural resources to prevent them from disappearing for everything from wildlife to land management.
Audubon Florida
Summer is nesting season for beach-nesting sea and shorebirds. They lay their eggs right on the sand, and we need to work together to protect these special birds. Audubon specifically monitors certain beach-nesting species. In Northeast Florida they steward Wilson’s plovers, royal terns, least terns, and American oystercatchers. There are fewer than 9,000 Wilson’s plovers left in the United States, and they are vulnerable to nesting disturbances on busy coastlines. Like their sea and shorebird neighbors, there’s a lot that can be done to protect them as they nest, rest, and feed (read more on page 16).
For the Love of Guana
At sunrise, Guana feels suspended in time. Light lifts slowly across the estuary, catching the edges of sawgrass and open water. Moments like this can feel timeless. But they are not.
Places like Guana do not exist by accident. They exist because people decided they should. Today, that decision can no longer remain passive. The Guana River estuary, one of Northeast Florida’s most important coastal ecosystems, is now part of an active, unfolding question: What is this land for (page 34)?
The Ark Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation’s center in St. Augustine Beach is the only government-licensed care center in Northeast Florida. Their passion for helping wounded birds and the hard work that has sustained the mission since its founding in 1999 is the best part of the story (page 24).
Ellen Diamond’s book, “Chasing Color,” celebrates her long and fruitful journey on this earth. Her early paintings of European landscapes, gardens, beaches, waterways, flowers, trees, towns, and bridges thrill the senses and satisfy the soul.
There is art around every corner.
Cinda Sherman, Publisher
