The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has worked in Florida for more than 60 years. Its Florida statistics describe a conservation program spanning protected lands and waters, public preserves, coral reefs, freshwater restoration, prescribed fire and wildlife habitat. The figures below retain the measurement periods and source descriptions attached to each statistic.
Contents
- Florida conservation footprint
- Public lands, preserves and partnerships
- Coral reefs and coastal waters
- Freshwater, wetlands and Florida Forever
- Fire, forests and longleaf pine
- Panthers, turtles and migratory wildlife
Florida conservation footprint
The Nature Conservancy in Florida says it has helped protect more than 1.2 million acres of vulnerable lands and waters in the state. The organization’s 2025 Florida page uses the same scale, describing more than 1.2 million acres of protected lands and waters by TNC. These are organization-reported milestones, and the page does not present them as a single-year total. Source: The Nature Conservancy in Florida.
TNC also says it owns and manages more than 40,000 acres in Florida, operating four preserves that are open to the public. The 2025 Florida page describes that footprint as more than 40,000 acres across four public preserves. This is a managed-acreage figure, distinct from the larger total of lands and waters whose protection TNC helped secure. Source: The Nature Conservancy in Florida.
Other TNC materials use a broader figure: more than 52,000 acres owned and managed in 25 Florida preserves. Because the source labels and scope differ, this figure should be read as a separate organizational report rather than combined arithmetically with the 40,000-acre public-preserve figure. Source: TNC & Partners Protect Land Essential to Florida Wildlife.
The Florida Chapter’s 2020 impact report says it had protected more than 1.3 million acres since 1961 and protected 2,885 miles of river over that period. The same report says a campaign aimed to restore 364,500 acres of forest, including longleaf pine. These are cumulative or campaign figures associated with the 2020 report, not current annual rates. Source: Florida 2020 Impact Report.
Florida’s overall conservation context is larger still. The Center for Conservation Initiatives says Florida has approximately 45 million acres of state land and water, with 32% under conservation management. The same source reports more than 10 million acres of conservation land in Florida. These statewide figures describe Florida’s conservation landscape, not land owned by TNC. Source: Center for Conservation Initiatives.
Public lands, preserves and partnerships
TNC’s Florida preserve network includes public sites as well as preserves open only to researchers. The Center for Conservation Initiatives reports seven TNC preserves in Florida that are open only to researchers, while the Florida page reports four preserves open to the public. The two counts describe different access categories and should not be treated as a combined preserve total. Source: Center for Conservation Initiatives.
The organization’s Florida conservation work also operates through large landscape partnerships and public funding. The Seminole Gaming Compact of 2021 created a historic allocation of $100 million annually for protected state lands, according to TNC’s Florida 2024 Impact Report. Senate Bill 1638 directs 96% of Seminole Tribe Compact revenue to water quality, infrastructure and conservation lands. These figures describe the compact and its statutory allocation, not TNC’s own annual budget. Source: Florida 2024 Impact Report.
The Florida Wildlife Corridor goal is to link protected and working lands from the Florida Keys to the Southern Appalachians. In southwest Florida, the 876-acre G Road Grove conservation easement helps connect the Florida panther breeding area south of the Caloosahatchee River with habitat north of the river. The same report identifies a 30,000-acre Florida Panther Dispersal Zone and a 750-acre Cola River Land and Timber property. Source: Florida 2024 Impact Report.
The Cola River acquisition closes a gap in a 22,000-acre conservation hub, according to the 2024 report. The size of the acquisition and the size of the larger hub are separate measures: one describes the property, while the other describes the connected conservation setting. This kind of landscape-scale work is central to maintaining movement routes and working lands around protected areas. Source: Florida 2024 Impact Report.
Coral reefs and coastal waters
Florida’s Coral Reef spans 358 miles from the Dry Tortugas to Martin County. In 2024, TNC efforts helped secure protection for 105 miles of the reef, according to the Florida 2024 Impact Report. The report describes the designation as a success 20 years in the making and says the protection connects reef tracts from St. Lucie inlet south to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Source: Florida 2024 Impact Report.
The Kristin Jacobs Coral Reef State Aquatic Preserve covers a 100-mile stretch from Key Biscayne to St. Lucie inlet. That preserve is one geographic component within the broader reef system, whose total length is reported as 358 miles. Keeping those boundaries explicit matters because a protected segment, an aquatic preserve and the full reef are different units of measurement. Source: Protecting Our Oceans.
The reef figures also sit within a wider Florida outdoor-economy context. TNC reports that recreational fishing brings in nearly $14 billion annually in Florida, wildlife viewing brings in $5 billion annually, and outdoor recreation generates $10 billion in annual tax revenue. The same source reports that public parks and lands in Florida are worth $60 billion. These are annual or valuation figures as labeled by TNC, rather than measurements of reef acreage. Source: The Nature Conservancy in Florida.
Freshwater, wetlands and Florida Forever
TNC reports that it helped preserve 350,000 acres and facilitate $280 million in federal program spending for wetlands restoration in Florida. The source presents these as cumulative conservation and program-support outcomes, without describing them as a single-year spending rate. Source: Protecting Florida’s Fresh Water.
The Disney Wilderness Preserve protects 11,500 acres and contains Lake Russell, a 540-acre sand-bottom lake. The preserve has more than 1,000 species of plants and animals, according to The Nature Conservancy in Florida and its Florida legislative platform. TNC also says it completed wetlands restoration at the preserve over the last 20 years. The acreage, lake size and species count describe the preserve’s setting; the restoration period describes the work’s reported duration. Sources: Disney Wilderness Preserve and Protecting Florida’s Fresh Water.
The Chaparral Slough project area is 11 miles long and 1 mile wide. It is part of the 122,213-acre Fisheating Creek Ecosystem Florida Forever Project. Those dimensions describe a project area and a larger Florida Forever landscape, so they are not alternative estimates of the same site. Source: Florida Land Protection.
Fire, forests and longleaf pine
Fire is a recurring management tool across Florida’s conservation lands. TNC says nearly all of Florida’s conservation lands depend on fire directly or indirectly, while the Center for Conservation Initiatives says more than half of the state’s conservation land requires fire every few years to maintain biodiversity and community safety. TNC in Florida has led prescribed-fire work since 1979. Sources: Florida 2024 Impact Report and Center for Conservation Initiatives.
The Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve covers 6,430 acres, and Alum Bluff rises 135 feet above the Apalachicola River. TNC says prescribed-fire support associated with the preserve often accomplishes 100,000 burned acres each year. The preserve acreage and the annual burned-acre figure measure different scales: one is the site, and the other is a broader fire-support outcome. Source: Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve.
Longleaf pine once dominated more than 90 million acres of the southeastern United States. Approximately 5% of that forest remains today, according to the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve source. TNC’s 2020 Florida report described a campaign aimed at restoring 364,500 acres of forest, including longleaf pine. The first two figures describe historical and remaining regional forest extent; the third is a campaign target. Sources: Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve and Florida 2020 Impact Report.
In 2024, TNC’s OCFLE trained fire practitioners from 10 states. Seventeen TNC fire practitioners also participated in a joint fire-suppression workshop in Belize in February 2024. These figures show the geographic reach of training described in the 2024 report, while the prescribed-fire statistics describe land-management scale. Source: Florida 2024 Impact Report.
Panthers, turtles and migratory wildlife
The Florida panther was added to Florida’s endangered species list in 1958. TNC’s Florida 2024 Impact Report describes the current breeding population as south of the Caloosahatchee River and identifies the G Road Grove connection to habitat north of the river. The 876-acre easement therefore has a stated connectivity role within the wider Florida Wildlife Corridor goal. Source: Florida Land Protection and Florida 2024 Impact Report.
Swallow-tailed kites can migrate up to 16,000 miles from South America to breed and winter in Florida. Green turtles travel up to 1,600 miles every two to five years to nest. At Blowing Rocks Preserve, green turtles use a 1-mile stretch of beach as nesting ground. The migration distances are maximums as reported by TNC, while the nesting-beach figure is a preserve feature. Source: Florida 2024 Impact Report.
| Florida conservation measure | Reported figure | Measurement context |
|---|---|---|
| TNC-protected lands and waters | More than 1.2 million acres | TNC Florida page and 2025 page |
| TNC Chapter protection since 1961 | More than 1.3 million acres | Florida 2020 Impact Report |
| Florida Coral Reef | 358 miles | Dry Tortugas to Martin County |
| Reef protection secured in 2024 | 105 miles | TNC Florida 2024 Impact Report |
| Disney Wilderness Preserve | 11,500 acres | Protected preserve acreage |
| Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve | 6,430 acres | Preserve acreage |
The different totals in this table should not be added together. They come from different reports, dates, geographic scopes and definitions of protection or management. Taken together, they show why The Nature Conservancy’s Florida statistics range from statewide conservation milestones to site-level habitat measurements.