Five acres is a decent amount of land for a home if you want to keep the neighbors at a decent distance.
It turns out that five acres is a rather healthy amount of land to conserve, too.
Florida residents have proven to be big supporters of land conservation, even approving new taxes if the money raised will be spent to purchase as much of Old Florida as possible.
Most purchases of conservation total many thousands of acres, whether it’s to be added to the state’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program or the federal Wetland Reserve Easements program, and the Conservation Stewardship Program. The Florida Wildlife Corridor is purchasing 18 million acres along the state’s spine designed to create an uninterrupted pathway for panthers, bears, and other animals who need to roam.
Every so often, a conservation land purchase is a mere five or ten acres. While smaller than the norm, there’s plenty of room for an endangered Florida panther to traverse while looking for food, or a mate, or to move its family. Many other animals use the real estate, as well.
Research shows there is 14 percent more diversity in five-acre wetland forests than in grasslands with the occasional tree. Also, a wetland often is designed to allow rain to make a cleansing trip underground to replenish the aquifer. Despite the parcel’s small size what it does for the environment is huge.
The Lee County Board of Commissioners recently purchased five acres off of Bonita Grande Drive. It is a stepping stone connecting larger protected areas.
They have voted several times to purchase five or ten-acre plots in the middle of Corkscrew Swamps' larger watershed, most recently a month ago.
When being sold ten acres of swamp land is a good thing
Over 40 acres of Caloosahatchee’s riverfront become public land
For scale, a five-acre plot of land, if shaped correctly, could fit within it a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier like the USS Ronald Reagan, which has a flight deck of about 4.5 acres.
Small plots along the rivers near the coast are invaluable. This summer, Lee County purchased 40 acres for conservation along the Caloosahatchee River, preserving the waterfront near downtown.
This land fronts Hancock Creek where bald eagles nest, deer run, and a lagoon will never become a marina.
Conserved wetlands of any size can trap their share of carbon, keeping global warming from getting worse. Swales and gullies direct stormwater runoff and control flooding, and grasses and small plants grow in the channels slowing the flow of water and allowing it to percolate into the ground and recharge the Floridian aquifer.
It’s akin to saving a little bit of money for years, except the interest on all of the little plots isn't cash. The payoff is the land, eventually combined into one much larger tract that helps complete the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
“It's really important for a lot of reasons,” said Keith Laakkonen, the director of Audubon Florida’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, when discussing how the addition of smaller lots benefits the sanctuary’s 60,000-plus acres. It’s “not only helping maintain these natural orders, but also for wildlife corridors for a lot of species that really depend on these natural areas of Florida.”
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a non-profit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.
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