Each parcel of land on this example street in North Port is individually owned and subject to being completely clear-cut for residential development, removing vital habitat for our wildlife and erasing our tree canopy and native plant life.
Many of North Port's surrounding areas such as Port Charlotte, Harbour Heights, Punta Gorda, Venice, Sarasota and Englewood also consist of streets/neighborhoods like this one.
Rapid land development is demolishing wildlife habitat DAILY which is displacing our native wildlife faster than it can adjust and relocate. We acquire land to ensure all native wildlife have a safe home to relocate to and remain upon forever.
We acquire and permanently conserve neighborhood land in North Port AND Surrounding Areas for preservation of, and education and research about, neighborhood wildlife, native plants, trees and soil as our population
continues to grow at a rapid pace.
In other words, WE SAVE "Stepping Stones" of land for NEIGHBORHOOD NATURE.
[We are not an advocacy entity]
We first launched our neighborhood land conservation mission within the City of North Port in the Spring of 2020. The concept of neighborhood land conservation was a very foreign one to many at that time so we wanted to keep our initial effort small, but it was always the goal to expand into Sarasota and Charlotte Counties.
As of 9/30/2024 we've acquired 43 parcels across North Port, Harbour Heights, Port Charlotte, Deep Creek, El Jobean and Englewood. See the "Protected Areas/Gallery" tab of our website for further details.
We are currently working on expanding into Punta Gorda, South Venice and Gulf Cove.
In summary, we are open to acquiring land in ANY neighborhood in AND beyond North Port and subsequently added the "And Surrounding Areas" verbiage to our name to let our supporters know.
To us, any natural neighborhood greenspace, no matter its size, is worth saving!
Conserving natural land in our neighborhoods allows for the preservation/protection of, education about, and co-existence with, our local native flora and fauna, especially threatened species such as the Gopher Tortoise and Florida Scrub-jay.
Conservation of natural land amidst residential development preserves wildlife habitat, threatened and/or endangered species and biodiversity; maintains scenic landscape for people; helps reduce flooding; helps filter water/improve water quality; and maintains the tree canopy and native vegetation that serve as filters for our air. Conserving land increases property values near these greenspaces too.
When we conserve land, all living things win.
What Is North Port And Surrounding Area's Environment Made Up Of?
North Port and our surrounding areas are composed of a diverse range of natural communities, often referred to as habitat: scrub, scrubby flatwoods, mesic hammocks, mesic (pine) flatwoods and freshwater wetlands, that are experiencing daily alteration or destruction as a result of development.
Learn more about Florida's natural communities through the Florida Natural Area Inventory here:
https://www.fnai.org/species-communities/natcom-guide
Without neighborhood conservation land amidst residential development it will be impossible to maintain the biodiversity that is necessary for the long term survival of our native flora and fauna that preceded us for decades.
― Baba Dioum
The vast majority of North Port is zoned for a variety of development as shown on the Zoning Map above. North Port is 104 square miles (65,560 acres) and there is no City-owned formally designated conservation land within its neighborhoods beyond the parcels we have acquired and conserved or those that have been conserved by private land owners.
Imagine 65,560 acres clear-cut and developed as the years pass by. Where will the wildlife go? Erasure of our current native plant population and local native tree canopy is a certainty too.
This same scenario is the case for many of our surrounding area neighborhoods including Port Charlotte, Harbour Heights, Venice, Englewood, Punta Gorda and Sarasota which is why we have expanded our mission beyond where it began in North Port.
Without conservation land to create greenspace for nature to remain as our neighborhoods continue to develop, it will be impossible to maintain the biodiversity that is necessary for the long term survival of our native flora and fauna.