Peter Colverson, an associate professor who manages the
Conservancy’s training academy in Gainesville, said the
state has added millions of acres to its protected lands
during the past 15 years, which has created a need for more
and better-trained professionals to manage those lands.
“These professionals provide a critical service – managing
the state’s conservation lands to ensure that important
biological resources are protected for future generations,”
Colverson said. “The training academy’s workshops provide
land managers with the techniques and strategies they need
to protect these valuable natural resources.”
Those who complete a series of
five workshops earn a Certificate
in Natural Areas Management
from the academy. Colverson said
the credential has been adopted by
five Florida counties as a basic
qualification for land management
work. As of March 2005, 55
professional land managers have
earned the certificate, which has
been endorsed by the Natural
Areas Association and used as a
template to establish nationwide
standards for conservation land-
management training.
“Since 2000, the partnership between The Nature
Conservancy and UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences has been a key factor in the academy’s success,”
Colverson said. “The partnership combines the expertise of
a well-respected international conservation organization
with 50 years of land-management experience and Florida’s
land-grant university.”
He said the academy now operates as part of the recently
created School of Natural Resources and Environment, a
campus-wide teaching, research and extension program
hosted by UF/IFAS, which gives the academy access to a
large number of academic disciplines and potential
partners.
The academy training program is also supported by the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the
Florida Park Service, which may make the training a basic
requirement for managers in the state park system.
The combination also allows the conservation organiza-
tion to improve its reach and effectiveness by working with
the UF/IFAS statewide extension education program, he
said. As a result, the Conservancy is able to present its
scientifically based land-management values to a diverse,
interagency audience.
The training academy also provides university faculty and
other personnel with opportunities to engage in natural
resource education, Colverson said. In 2004, for example,
the Conservancy cooperated with the UF/IFAS School of
Forest Resources and Conservation, presenting three work-
shops to help private land owners adopt ecologically
friendly management practices. The close working relation-
ship also helps the Conservancy
obtain grant funding from state
land-management agencies.
Victoria Tschinkel, state director
of The Nature Conservancy in
Tallahassee, Fla., said it is well
known in the conservation
community that acquiring land –
while critical – is not enough to
ensure its long-term protection.
“Lands must be restored, if
damaged, and managed over time
in order to preserve their natural
values,” she said. “This can only be
accomplished by well-trained people who have the neces-
sary resources. The Natural Areas Training Academy has
shown that Florida’s resource managers are interested and
committed to expanding their skills and taking their expert-
ise to a new level.”
While the majority of the lands the Conservancy helps
protect are in public ownership, the organization also owns
and manages several preserves throughout the state,
Colverson said. These include: The Disney Wilderness
Preserve in Osceola County, Blowing Rocks Preserve on
Jupiter Island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian
River Lagoon, Tiger Creek Preserve near Lake Wales,
Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve, and the Islands
Initiative Preserve in Northeast Florida.
For more information on the workshops and registration,
visit the training academy Web site: http://nata.snre.ufl.edu/.
