Annual Fund

The Conservancy remains on the forefront of addressing environmental issues ranging from advocating for our water quality, protecting native habitat and open lands, and ensuring our expansive coastal mangrove systems remain preserved and continue to thrive.

This year, we must purposely invest even greater into our conservation efforts to strengthen the critically important natural systems that have both protected us from intense and extreme weather such as Hurricane Ian, and also have been severely impacted by those same climate events.

It has never been more evident than it is right now that nature is our best defense. Each year, the preservation and restoration of storm-ravaged natural resources such as mangroves, coastal dunes, wetlands, and other open land areas grows in importance. Protection of these natural systems is imperative as we continue to see expansive development and population growth in our region.

The hope lies within our resiliency and perseverance. In reflecting on what we are learning and we can do differently to change course, taking a more deliberate approach to protecting our environment. The Conservancy is leading the charge to mitigate impacts from coastal storms through our support of initiatives for responsible land development, preparing for the effects of a changing climate on our community, and implementing policy decisions that are rooted in science and common sense.

This year marked the 40th anniversary of our Sea Turtle Research and Monitoring Program. In 2022, the research team has documented a record number of 628 nests on Keewaydin Island, and nearly 43,000 hatchlings are estimated to have successfully made it to the Gulf of Mexico. While we celebrate this
important accomplishment, we suffered significant setbacks from Hurricane Ian – 29 sea turtle nests were washed out and four ATVs on the island were damaged beyond repair.

Your support will help us protect the advances in our mission work from further destruction.