In case you haven’t heard, our partners at the Florida Wildlife Corridor began their expedition on January 17th. This trek is set to cover about 1,000 miles over 100 days and starts by traversing the Everglades ecosystem into Big Cypress, over to the Everglades Agricultural Area, back to the Okaloacoochee Slough, across the Caloosahatchee, over to Babcock Ranch, back along Fisheating Creek toward Lake Okeechobee, up the Kissimmee River with excursions toward the Lake Wales Ridge, up the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, east around Orlando into Ocala National Forest, and north along the O2O corridor (Ocala to Osceola) to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
This exciting project, led by Carlton Ward Jr.— photographer and friend of WILD– is now on its 17th day in the field. The team has made it through some of Florida’s wildest areas, biking, hiking and kayaking roughly 10-30 miles a day. The goals of the Florida Wildlife Corridor are to:
- Protect and restore habitat and migration corridors essential for the survival of Florida’s diverse wildlife, including wide-ranging panthers, black bears and other native species
- Restore water flow to the Everglades and sustain water supply to southern Florida
- Continue to safeguard the St. Johns River and water supply for central and north Florida
- Sustain the food production, economies and cultural legacies of working ranches and farms within the corridor
- Bolster local economies through increased opportunities such as hunting, fishing, birdwatching and other forms of eco-tourism
- Give wildlife and plants room to adapt to a changing climate and sea level rise
Stay up-to-date with the expedition!
>>Follow the story on National Geographic’s Explorer’s Journal
