- Monthly Conservation Note - The Imperilment of an Icon
- Thank You to Our Donors
- New Partnerships
- Giving Tuesday
- "Meet Our Team" Spotlight - Keith Buttry, Research Associate
- IRC Receives "Top-Rated" Status
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Monthly Conservation Note |
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The Imperilment of an Icon |
Over the last year and a half, I have had the privilege of leading a world-class team of scientists and conservationists from the US and Cuba in assessing the conservation status of the iconic ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii). This is part of a multi-pronged effort to increase its legal protection in order to prevent its extinction and lead to its recovery in the wild. The first part of this process, in collaboration with NatureServe and the Florida Natural Areas Inventory, is now complete and the results can be viewed on the NatureServe Explorer. Sadly, and of great concern, our findings led to a change in the Florida, national, and global rank of this rare orchid to Critically Imperiled, the most threatened rank used in the NatureServe system. Conservation assessments based on rigorous methodology and requiring scientific evidence, such as those used by NatureServe, the IUCN, and IRC, are key to understanding threats, assessing conservation needs, and building successful conservation and restoration programs.
On behalf of IRC, I would like to thank our collaborators from the US National Park |
| Service, Orquideario Soroa (Cuba), US Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Park Service, National Parks Conservation Association, Illinois College, and Naples Botanical Garden for their contributions to this important collaboration. Stay tuned for more news as we continue with this effort. If you would like to support our work to increase the protection of the ghost orchid, please consider making a donation and noting it is for ghost orchid work – we could really use your support.
George Gann Founder and Executive Director |
Photo Credit: Tony Pernas, Big Cypress National Preserve. |
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 | Thank you to all who have supported IRC's programs in the last month:
Karina Cortes
We would also like to give special thanks to our monthly donors:
Barbara McAdam, Valerie Seasholtz, Henriete Faillace, Steven Schuemann, Steven Green, Kathrine Bales, Rita Ellis, Stephen Jones, Samantha Rhodes.
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| | | IRC has an E-Trade account. Please contact us about giving gifts of stock.
While we get funding for some great projects, those funds rarely cover all of our costs, so we really do need your support to continue our important work.
Donations allow us to provide important conservation services such as improving our free online resources, increasing protection of rare plants and animals, restoring native ecosystems, and advocating for better public policy. |
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Thank You Give Miami Day Donors |
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Thank you to the following donors who participated in Give Miami Day this year! You helped us raise over $3,000 before bonus pool donations. We will use this money to maximize impacts of our Pine Rockland Initiative in 2022.
Colleen Boggs, Kathryn Villano, Cynthia Guerra, Lindsay Boehner, Aida Curtis, George Gann, Donna Shore, John Miller, Amanda Treher, Amy Atkins, Cindy Dwyer, Noah Frade, Susan Markley, Patty Phares, Jennifer Richards, Douglas Thompson, Carol Farber, Stephen Jones, Richard Acosta, Rick and Nancy Blanchett, Andrea England, Carmen Ferreiro, Patricia Gilmore, Amy Leonard, Ana Lima, Dan McGillicud, JoAnne Linardi. |
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| - The Florida Wildflower Foundation has renewed funding for Natives For Your Neighborhood (NFYN) with an additional $5,000 grant. In the 3rd year of this critical support, we will continue the expansion of NFYN through the state of Florida and adding pollinator information to the wildlife section of NFYN. We are so thankful for the continued support from this wonderful organization.
- The National Parks Conservation Association is supporting our Pine Rockland Initiative (PRI) with a $5,000 grant. We are excited about and grateful for this new collaboration.
- IRC recently signed an agreement with Botanic Gardens Conservation International allowing us to support the assessment of endemic trees of Puerto Rico as part of the Global Tree Assessment.
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Today is Giving Tuesday, an annual global movement of hundreds of millions of donors supporting the nonprofit organizations that inspire them.
We are honored to provide free online resources like Natives For Your Neighborhood and to engage the community through meaningful programs like the Pine Rockland Initiative and Restoring the Gold Coast.
By donating today, you will help us continue our mission of conserving rare plants, animals, and ecosystems.
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"Meet Our Team" Spotlight |
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Research Associate Keith Buttry |
We are excited to welcome Keith Buttry as a new Research Associate with IRC!
Keith is the founder and owner of Neglected Plants, a local company dedicated to the conservation, public education, and planting of Florida natives. Before starting Neglected Plants, Keith was part of the horticulture team at Gemini Botanical Garden in Manalapan, FL, and D'Asign Source Botanicals in the Florida Keys, where he managed a 20-acre wholesale nursery specializing in specimen palm trees and cycads. Projects include dune restoration at Gemini, including design, installation, and diversification of a 1200-foot private coastal upland system, and IRC's Restoring the Gold Coast program, where Keith has assisted as a crew leader, including invasive species removal, and the propagation and installation of native plants. Keith has extensive experience with native plant collection, propagation, and cultivation, as well as irrigation systems and insect and disease control. He has a BS in Biology with emphases in Field Biology and Wildlife Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Travels include Belize and Costa Rica to study native plants and ecosystems. His resume includes pre-clinical research, field collection, photography, and scuba diving. |
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IRC Receives "Top Rated" Status |
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| We have been honored with a Top-Rated Award for 2021 from GreatNonprofits! We appreciate everyone who took the time to leave us a review and help us earn this rating. Click here to read the reviews or leave one of your own. |
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We are a nonprofit conservation organization exempt from taxes under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)3. |
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The Institute for Regional Conservation | Website |
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