Conservation Florida
Saving Land. For Nature. For People. Forever.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Protecting Florida’s natural and agricultural landscapes has never been more important than it is today. Three of the most pressing challenges to conservation in Florida are a growing population, loss of habitat, and reduced funding for conservation. Conservation Florida’s team works to protect Florida’s natural and agricultural landscapes for future generations. We are helping cattle ranchers in the Florida Wildlife Corridor and in the Greater Northern Everglades place conservation easements on their family lands so that they can continue to operate in our state. We are establishing community preserves in densely developed urban areas to help ensure safe and equitable access to nature. We are: • Saving land for wildlife and humans • Providing expertise to guide landowners through the land protection process • Serving as a trusted community partner to support statewide land conservation • Promoting land conservation through effective education and advocacy
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Protecting the Florida Wildlife Corridor
Our role: we’re saving the land.
From Pensacola to the Florida Keys, our work creates, expands and links conservation lands. Conservation Florida is a founding and leading partner in the effort to protect the Florida Wildlife Corridor by engaging landowners and government partners to protect critical properties and make the corridor vision a reality.
Advocating for Conservation Funding
We help Floridians by advocating for a minimum of $100 million a year from the Florida State Legislature so that landscape-scale conservation priorities can be achieved. Consistent, meaningful funding for land conservation will help make the Florida Wildlife Corridor vision a reality.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Land Trust Alliance 2017
Land Trust Alliance 2018
Land Trust Alliance 2019
Land Trust Alliance 2020
Land Trust Alliance 2021
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Advocating for Conservation Funding
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Conservation Florida continues to actively engage with volunteers around the state. In 2021, Conservation Florida hosted several education and outreach events that engaged several volunteers.
Hours of volunteer service
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of people on the organization's email list
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of press releases developed and distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Advocating for Conservation Funding
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of website pageviews
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of acres of land protected
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Land protection is a complex process that can take many years to complete. The number of acres permanently protected during a given year is a small percentage of the total acres in progress.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goals are to protect lands that:
- Permanently connect and conserve the Florida Wildlife Corridor
- Support healthy populations of native plants and wildlife
- Provide places to recreate and connect with nature
- Contribute to a strong economy
- Support the success of working family farms and ranches
- Replenish and safeguard Florida’s freshwater supply
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Conservation Florida is grounded by a deep love for Florida and a history of impactful boots-on-the-ground land conservation. We are a statewide land conservancy protecting Florida's natural and agricultural landscapes with a primary focus on saving land within the Florida Wildlife Corridor. From Pensacola to the Florida Keys, Conservation Florida has led the way in strategic and evidence-based land protection since our founding in 1999.
Conservation Florida is an effective, energetic, collaborative organization working on your behalf to protect Florida’s land, water, wildlife, and way of life. We save land by facilitating, purchasing, or accepting donations of land and conservation easements, serving as a trusted community partner to support statewide land conservation, and through effective advocacy, education, and outreach programming.
We achieve our vision by:
- providing expertise to guide landowners through the land protection process;
- facilitating, purchasing, or accepting donations of land and conservation easements;
- serving as a trusted community partner to support statewide land conservation;
- promoting land conservation through effective advocacy and education;
- and developing conservation strategies and exploring conservation funding sources.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Conservation Florida's strengths include:Working statewide on landscape-scale conservation projects. Maintaining the highest professional standards through national accreditation and Guidstar's Seal of Transparency Protecting land using creative approaches that include: Acquisition - We protect land outright by owning it or holding a conservation easement that protects its natural or agricultural resources. Incubation - We initiate land projects by identifying opportunities, aligning partners and serving as a catalyst for future actions. Facilitation - We form a link between government agencies and private landowners to help them negotiate land protection agreements. Establishing strong partnerships Demonstrating expertise in all aspects of conservation real estate, including conservation easements and the associated tax benefits Some of our many partners include: St. Johns River Water Management District Alachua County Marion County Parks and Recreation Florida Office of Greenways and Trails Florida Department of Environmental Protection Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Florida Forest Service Friends of the Wekiva River U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service U.S. Department of Defense University of Central Florida
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2020, we formed a new watershed protection initiative called the Headwaters to Okeechobee: H2O, a regional conservation partnership spanning six counties in the Avon Park Sentinel Landscape, that includes communities, state agencies, landowners, and the Avon Park Air Force Range. As a direct result of the H2O partnership, thousands of acres of high priority habitat in this region will be permanently protected. Further, our agreement with the U.S. Airforce authorizes us to acquire and monitor conservation easements on private lands near all of its Florida bases to actively prevent incompatible development from interfering with military operations. In 2021, our targeted advocacy played a substantial role in the passage of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act and the allocation of $400 million to the state’s Florida Forever land protection program. Currently, our team has over 50 active conservation projects totaling over 100,000 acres underway in support of Florida’s native plants and wildlife, fresh water, wildlife corridors, family farms and ranches, the economy, and nature-based recreation.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Conservation Florida
Board of directorsas of 11/01/2023
Neil Asma
Jeff Hardesty
Neil Asma
Mike Forrester
Matt Pearce
Courtney Barnard
Kipp Frohlich
Will Hollis
Ellery Linder
Justin Beck
Mike Miller
Adam Babington
Eric Draper
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/21/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.