Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology.
The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the Department of the Interior. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants. Since President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge as the first wildlife refuge in 1903, the system has grown to over 568 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts encompassing about 859,000,000 acres (3,476,200 km2).
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation", the ESA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973. The Supreme Court of the United States described it as "the most comprehensive legislation for the preservation of endangered species enacted by any nation". The purposes of the ESA are two-fold: to prevent extinction and to recover species to the point where the law's protections are not needed. It therefore "protect[s] species and the ecosystems upon which they depend" through different mechanisms. For example, section 4 requires the agencies overseeing the Act to designate imperiled species as threatened or endangered. Section 9 prohibits unlawful 'take,' of such species, which means to "harass, harm, hunt..." Section 7 directs federal agencies to use their authorities to help conserve listed species. The Act also serves as the enacting legislation to carry out the provisions outlined in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization in the United States, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations.
The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is a 145,188-acre (587.55 km2) wildlife sanctuary is located west of Boynton Beach, in Palm Beach County, Florida. It is also known as Water Conservation Area 1 (WCA-1). It includes the most northern remnant of the historic Everglades wetland ecosystem.
The Golden Gate Biosphere Network is a voluntary coalition of federal, state and local government agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities, and private partners within the Golden Gate Biosphere region. The Network aims to protect the region's biodiversity and conserve its natural resources. The Network has been part of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme since 1988.GGBN is also part of the US Biosphere Network as well as EuroMAB. It is recognized by UNESCO for its "significance for biological diversity conversation" and organizational efforts involving municipal authorities and private interests.
The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a California environmental non-profit organization that seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve it for future generations. The mission of CNPS is to conserve California native plants and their natural habitats, and increase understanding, appreciation, and horticultural use of native plants throughout the entire state and the California Floristic Province.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is an American foundation that was chartered by the United States Congress in 1984 to increase the resources available for the conservation of the nation's fish, wildlife, plants, and habitats.
There are a number of environmental issues in Florida. A large portion of Florida is a biologically diverse ecosystem, with large wetlands in the Everglades. Management of environmental issues related to the everglades and the larger coastal waters and wetlands have been important to the history of Florida and the development of multiple parts of the economy of Florida, including the influential agricultural industry. This biodiversity leaves much of Florida's ecological ecosystem vulnerable to invasive species and human sources of industrial pollution and waste.
Wetland conservation is aimed at protecting and preserving areas of land including marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens that are covered by water seasonally or permanently due to a variety of threats from both natural and anthropogenic hazards. Some examples of these hazards include habitat loss, pollution, and invasive species. Wetland vary widely in their salinity levels, climate zones, and surrounding geography and play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity, ecosystem services, and support human communities. Wetlands cover at least six percent of the Earth and have become a focal issue for conservation due to the ecosystem services they provide. More than three billion people, around half the world's population, obtain their basic water needs from inland freshwater wetlands. They provide essential habitats for fish and various wildlife species, playing a vital role in purifying polluted waters and mitigating the damaging effects of floods and storms. Furthermore, they offer a diverse range of recreational activities, including fishing, hunting, photography, and wildlife observation.
San Diego National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in California. It is part of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex. A variety of habitats from coastal sage scrub and chaparral to oak woodland and freshwater marsh describe this inland refuge in San Diego's backcountry.
Chionanthus pygmaeus is a rare species of flowering plant in the olive family known by the common name pygmy fringetree. It is endemic to Florida, where there are 46 known occurrences as of 2010. The plant is found in increasingly rare habitat in Central Florida that is being consumed for development, and some protected areas are not managed adequately. Most populations are small. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Dicerandra cornutissima is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names longspurred mint, longspurred balm, and Robin's mint. It is endemic to Florida in the United States. It is found in Marion County, and possibly Sumter County, but it may have been totally extirpated from the latter. There are 12 known occurrences remaining as of 2017, down from 15 in 2000. The plant was federally listed as an endangered species in 1985.
Dicerandra immaculata is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names Lakela's mint, Olga's mint, and spotless balm. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it is known only from Indian River and St. Lucie counties. There are seven occurrences of the plant, two of which are scheduled for destruction as the land is cleared for development. The plant was federally listed as an endangered species in 1985.
Sidalcea nelsoniana is a rare species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Nelson's checkerbloom and Nelson's checkermallow. It is native to the Willamette Valley and Coast Range of Oregon and the southwestern corner of Washington in the United States. It is threatened by the destruction and degradation of its habitat, and it is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Upper Newport Bay State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area in Newport Bay in Orange County and the South Coast region of Southern California. It extends inland/northeast from the Pacific Coast Highway crossing of the bay, within the city of Newport Beach.
White Oak Conservation, which is part of Walter Conservation, is a 17,000-acre (6,900 ha) conservation center in northeastern Florida. It is dedicated to the conservation of endangered and threatened species, including Indian rhinoceros, southern white rhinoceros, south-central black rhinoceros, Asian elephants, giraffes, okapi, bongo antelope, zebras, dama gazelles, and cheetahs.
Acanthomintha ilicifolia, known by the common name San Diego thornmint, is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family. It is native to Baja California and San Diego County, California, where it is a resident of the chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities and vernal pools.
Naomi Suzanne Fraga is an American botanist who is the Director of Conservation at the California Botanic Garden and research assistant professor of botany at Claremont Graduate University. She has focused her career on the conservation, monitoring and habitat restoration of rare plants across California. She was awarded the 2021 Center for Biological Diversity E.O. Wilson Award for Outstanding Science in Biodiversity Conservation. In 2023, Fraga received the Peter Raven Award from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists. This award is given annually to a plant systematist who has made exceptional efforts at outreach to non-scientists.
