Florida’s Wildlife Legacy Initiative - Working Together
for
Wildlife
and People
Thomas Eason, Florida Wildlife Legacy Initiative Leader
Florida has an unprecedented opportunity to shape the future of fish and wildlife conservation through Florida’s Wildlife Legacy Initiative. The Initiative is a program designed to conserve Florida’s wildlife before species become more rare and costly to protect. The three main components of the Initiative are the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, partnership development, and Florida’s State Wildlife Grants Program. The Strategy addresses conservation problems, management needs and priorities, and is a stimulus to engage conservation partners to think about their individual and coordinated roles. Florida’s Strategy identifies 974 species of greatest conservation need and 45 habitats they occupy. Conservation actions identified in the Strategy target these habitats, thus benefiting all species within them. Florida’s Initiative is committed to building partnerships across the state to promote wildlife conservation. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is working with other agencies, organizations, businesses and individuals with an interest in conserving wildlife to focus cooperative efforts on high priority conservation needs. Florida's State Wildlife Grants Program supports these efforts by providing grant money for projects that address conservation needs identified in Florida’s Strategy. Using this integrated and holistic approach to wildlife conservation, the full array of Florida’s wildlife and people will benefit.
