Everglades National Park, United States of America

Everglades National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site, an International Biosphere Reserve and a Wetland of International Importance. A vast network of forests and wetlands, it once encompassed 6 million acres. Today the “River of Grass” is less than half its original size. 

Among the first inhabitants, the Calusa lived on drier upland tree islands. Using the trees to build shelters, they hunted and fished. Two sovereign domestic nations still live here: the Seminole and the Miccosukee Tribes, who revere the Everglades landscape as sacred.  

Everglades National Park is noteworthy for its biodiversity. The exceptional variety of its water habitats has made it a sanctuary for a large number of birds and reptiles. The greater Everglades ecosystem provides refuge to more than 70 rare, threatened, or endangered species.

The Everglades is the only place where alligators and crocodiles coexist. American alligators are usually found in freshwater, while American crocodiles prefer brackish habitats. Increased freshwater flows will improve alligator habitat while also benefitting juvenile crocodiles.

Dredging South Florida for agriculture and development began shortly after statehood was established in 1845, effectively cutting off the natural southerly freshwater flow. A massive infrastructure effort now seeks to restore it, to reverse harmful environmental consequences.

The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is the largest environmental restoration effort in history, joining 68 components such as water storage reservoirs and engineered wetlands to store and clean freshwater, so it can safely be sent south through the Everglades.

Hardwood hammocks are characterized by diverse, closed canopies of hardwoods. Pine rocklands, found only in South Florida and the Bahamas, house an array of animals and plants. Pine rocklands will transform into a tropical hardwood hammock in 20 to 30 years without fire.

Florida Bay is a vital Everglades estuary that has also been negatively impacted by water management practices and human development.

Formed over eons, Everglades peat soils store large amounts of carbon and are important in fighting climate change. Overly dry conditions and saltwater intrusion enable the release of large amounts of carbon, but increased year-round freshwater flows will protect the peat.

Composed of algae, cyanobacteria, fungi, microbes, plant detritus and microinvertebrates, periphyton is at the base of the Everglades food chain. It adds oxygen to the water, contributes to soil formation, provides habitat and is an indicator of water quality.