MIAMI— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded a 2024 Regional Recovery Champion Award for the southeastern United States to the Pine Rocklands Conservation Team, a public-private partnership dedicated to protecting and restoring South Florida’s critically endangered pine rocklands ecosystem.

Pine rocklands are home to more than 20 species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act and dozens more rare and imperiled mammals, reptiles, insects and plants found nowhere else on Earth. These include the endangered Key deer, Florida bonneted bat, Miami tiger beetle, Florida leafwing butterfly, Deltoid spurge and Carter's flax.

The Pine Rocklands Recovery Team is composed of public and nonprofit partners. The public partners include Miami-Dade County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program, Zoo Miami and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Florida Ecological Services Field Office Pine Rockland Recovery Team. The nonprofit partners are Bat Conservation International, Center for Biological Diversity, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, The Institute for Regional Conservation, The Nature Conservancy and Tropical Audubon Society.

The Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged that the team’s “tireless efforts to collaboratively work to recover this significantly important ecosystem in a challenging, highly fragmented urban landscape has changed the trajectory of this ecosystem and its rare species.” Over the past decade, “the team has made incredible strides towards species and ecosystem recovery, exemplifying what it takes to recover species and their habitats.”

The conservation partners accomplished this significant recovery work through countless hours of managing and restoring pine rocklands by: controlling invasive species; applying prescribed fire in challenging locations; expanding populations of endangered plants; enlarging the spatial extent of pinelands; developing restoration protocols and guidance; submitting data on petitioned and listed species; reviewing recovery documents; organizing and facilitating meetings; and increasing the visibility and awareness of pine rocklands locally, nationally and globally.

Pine rocklands are forests with a tall canopy of South Florida slash pines growing in sandy soils and limestone, with a diverse low-growing understory of tropical and temperate flowers, herbs and shrubs. These forests are adapted to periodic natural fire, which helps support more than 400 native plants and dozens of imperiled species who rely on this beautiful habitat for their survival.

The Service noted that the team’s novel approach to species recovery focuses on ecosystem restoration, management and conservation and makes species recovery as efficient, cost effective and successful as possible.

“Zoo Miami is honored to be working as part of a dedicated, imaginative, collaborative, and resourceful team to be making a difference for so many imperiled species that exist in the critically endangered pine rockland,” said Frank Ridgley, department head of conservation and research at Zoo Miami. “Working together towards the recovery of these species not only helps us fulfill our mission but it simultaneously helps the citizens of Miami-Dade County by conserving our natural resources, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and making progress towards delisting.”

“This award recognizes not only the persistence of this dedicated team, but also the extraordinary value of the pine rocklands and the species that depend on them, like the Florida bonneted bat,” said Mylea Bayless, chief of strategic partnerships at Bat Conservation International. “Through partnerships and science-based action, we’re proving that even the most fragmented ecosystems can be brought back from the brink.”

“All plants and animals, from Miami tiger beetles to Florida brickell-bush, deserve to exist here and they’re part of Florida’s unique natural heritage. We’re so proud to play a role in their recovery,” said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re especially honored to help build upon the longstanding work of the many people involved in this huge team effort.”

“The few remaining tracts of pine rocklands in the Miami area are incredibly fragmented, which makes recovery challenging,” said Jennifer Possley, director of regional conservation at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. “But due to this ecosystem’s incredibly high species richness, each ‘island’ in the urban sea is completely unique, with its own suite of species; every square foot is a biodiversity treasure trove.”

“The near obliteration of pine rocklands over the last 100 years can only be countered by a coalition of willing collaborators with deep ties to the local community,” said George Gann at The Institute for Regional Conservation. “The resilience of pine rocklands and the dedication of those restoring and managing this unique piece of Nature proves that the restoration of ecosystems and the recovery of threatened species is not only possible, but imperative to achieve a sustainable future for people and Nature.”

“Protecting the remaining pine rocklands from development, applying controlled burns to safely mimic the effects of wildfire in these fire-dependent forests, and keeping invasive species in check are crucial for the conservation of the native plants, wildlife, and public uses in these extremely rare natural areas,” said Chris Bergh, field program manager for The Nature Conservancy. “The range of expertise and the diversity of conservation approaches used by the public agencies and private organizations who are receiving this recognition are remarkable and The Nature Conservancy is honored to be included.”

“Saving the pine rocklands goes beyond preserving trees and plants — it’s about protecting a whole community of rare wildlife found nowhere else on Earth. This recognition highlights the power of collaboration” said Lauren Jonaitis, senior conservation director of Tropical Audubon Society.

Florida’s pine rocklands were historically found across the Miami Rock Ridge, extending from north of downtown Miami west into Everglades National Park and south into the Florida Keys. Currently less than 2% of pine rocklands remain in urban Miami-Dade County outside Everglades National Park. Pine rocklands also exist in the Keys, primarily on Big Pine Key, and in small patches in Big Cypress National Preserve.

To learn more about pine rocklands and the endangered species who live there, visit the following resources:

Save Our Pine Rocklands website

Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program StoryMap

Pine Rocklands Initiative of the Institute for Regional Conservation website.

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s pine rocklands factsheet

Tropical Audubon’s pine rocklands webpage