Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection
Waters that Work, Play and Live
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection manages more than 5.3 million acres of submerged lands and coastal uplands in Florida.
Much of Florida's distinctive character lies in the beauty of its coastline. The best of our coastal landscapes as well as several inland waters is set aside for protection as aquatic preserves. Florida's natural beauty is a major attraction for both tourists and residents. Ironically, these coastal and inland resources that draw people to Florida are potentially endangered by the increased population pressures. Aquatic preserves protect Florida's living waters to ensure they will always be home for bird rookeries and fish nurseries, freshwater springs and salt marshes, and seagrass meadows and mangrove forests.
These aquatic preserves — located throughout Florida — offer a window into the state's natural and cultural heritage. Local leaders long recognized and worked to protect these critically important and ecologically sensitive areas and in 1975, with growing appreciation for their environmental diversity and alluring beauty, Florida enacted the Aquatic Preserve Act. This Act brought together existing and future aquatic preserves under one management program to ensure "their aesthetic, biological and scientific values may endure for the enjoyment of future generations."
On Oct. 14, Sofia Arias, Julia Severance and Mo Morrow hosted a microplastics filtration demonstration at the Key Largo Library. Each team member brought a water sample from the aquatic preserve (AP) they represent (Sofia-Lignumvitae AP, Julia-Biscayne Bay AP, Mo-Kristin Jacobs Coral AP) to use in a microplastics identification activity.
A bird’s-eye view is helping monitor seagrass habitats in Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve through a collaboration involving Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve, Florida Gulf Coast University and DEP’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Coordinator.
Staff from both Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve (NCAP) and Big Bend Seagrasses (BBSAP) both visited a site that will receive some new signage and a channel change to reduce prop scars as part of the SCAR MAPS multi agency project. This section of submerged land off Anclote key in NCAP is currently owned by a private citizen and is designated as a Pole and Troll Zone but there is no signage indicating that it has that status to local boaters.