None The Nature Conservancy in Florida Press Releases Search All Press Releases David Dadurka Phone: (407) 682-3664, ext. 127 E-mail: ddadurka@tnc.org

Colombian Environmental Group Finds Conservation Inspiration in Florida

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL — August 14, 2008 — Members of a Colombian environmental institution visited Florida as part of a weeklong tour with The Nature Conservancy to learn about land management practices that they can use in Colombia on specific conservation projects. The Nature Conservancy, which has a long track record of protecting ecologically important places in the US, is exporting what it's learned about conservation in the US to other countries.

Conserving and restoring land in Colombia is important to The Nature Conservancy because the North Tropical Andes region, which includes Colombia, supports an astonishing 20 percent of the world's plant and animal species.

During the weeklong tour, three representatives from the Regional Environmental Authority of the Dique Channel in Colombia visited several Conservancy preserves, including The Disney Wilderness Preserve. The preserve is a model for demonstrating how to restore Florida's lands and waters and help endangered species. The Disney Wilderness Preserve provides one example of how the Conservancy has worked with corporations and governments collaboratively to create one of the largest wetlands mitigation projects in the US. The delegation of Colombian visitors are interested in how the Conservancy has worked with private landowners to conserve nature.

The Colombians also visited XL Ranch in Highlands County, where The Nature Conservancy worked with the Lightsey family to protect their land with a conservation easement. Ranching in Colombia is big business—covering one third of the nation's landscape. Likewise, ranching is a major part of the Florida economy. Traditional cattle ranching in Colombia has contributed to the destruction of tropical forests through clearing of native forests, soil degradation, watershed pollution and declined productivity. Unsustainable cattle ranching and unplanned land-use have decimated endless acres of Andean cloud forests.

The Conservancy in Colombia recently reached an agreement with several ranchers in the Colombian village of Encino to try new management practices to protect nature while continuing to operate their ranches in a sustainable way. The visit to the Lightsey family's XL Ranch was an effort to showcase how agriculture and conservation are compatible. The Lightseys, who were recognized for environmental stewardship by the Florida Department of Agriculture, have incorporated conservation practices into their ranching operation.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.