The Parks and Recreation Environmental Management Group
oversees almost 3,500 acres of natural lands in the system, including five nature centers, 22 natural area sites, and portions of 17 regional and eight neighborhood parks. The natural areas, preserves, and nature centers were acquired with funds from three bond issues spanning more than four decades, along with financial assistance from the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Communities Trust.
The Environmental Management Group is often the last line of defense when it comes to the protection and preservation of these natural areas and preserves. These lands represent most of the last fragments of original landscape in highly urbanized Broward County, providing some of the few remaining refuges for many native and migratory animal species as well.
The group works to ensure that these areas and their wildlife inhabitants will be enjoyed by visitors, students, teachers, and scientists for generations to come. This is accomplished through acquisition, legal protection, mitigation, restoration, and advocacy, as well as developing a master plan for the management of each site. Such stewardship encompasses the removal of invasive species and the restoration of marshes, scrub forests, swamps, mangrove wetlands, upland hammocks, and prairies throughout the park system.
Education and outreach are vital components of the Division's environmental management, which includes a wide range of classes for all ages, from preschoolers to graduate students to seniors. Public workdays recruit volunteers to assist in removing invasive plants to and replacing them with native ones. Guided hikes and other programs, most of them free, introduce participants to Broward County's natural areas and their role in preserving the environment and addressing the challenges of changing climate. The Environmental Group also serves as liaison to the Urban Wilderness Advisory Board appointed by the Broward County Commission.
