RECENT EVENTS
September 14th - Village of Palmetto Bay - Palmetto Bay Park This event was held at the Palmetto Bay Park in the Village of Palmetto Bay. Led by IRC's Field Supervisor, Melany Flint and our Field Technician, Jonathan Moreno. Volunteers installed native plants to enhance the biodiversity within the pine rocklands and as well as remove pesky invasives.
January 2024 - Village of Palmetto Bay - Coral Reef Park IRC has been working on exciting new projects in the Village of Palmetto Bay, Miami- Dade County at Coral Reef Park. Our crews have been working hard to remove invasive plant species and overgrow native hardwoods to restore the pine rockland habitat in the park. You can see the beautiful work happening from the before and after where the crews removed Sewervine (Paederia cruddasiana) and exposed the remnant high value patches of Saw palmettos. This park was loaded with lots of biodiversity and IRC’s crew has been doing a fantastic job repairing the ecosystem function of its pine rockland habitat. Recently, our crew found the endangered species man-in-the-ground (Ipomoea microdactyla) hanging on to life in the restoration area that was in a lower quality area of the park!
November 11th, 2023-Hattie Bauer Hammock Preserve IRC joined the Miami-Dade County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program for their “Science and Peace Day” environmental educational forum at the Hattie Bauer Hammock Preserve. At this event, IRC along with other local organizations provided attendees the opportunity to interact with them to learn more about each organization, their volunteer opportunities, and how they can get more involved in conservation.
November 5, 2022 – Calderon Pineland Preserve As part of the Pine Rockland Working Group conference, a collaborative volunteer event was held a Calderon Pineland Preserve. More than 100 volunteers joined Miami-Dade's Environmentally Endangered Lands Program at the Preserve, planting more than 1,500 rare plants that support butterfly species and other pollinators.
November 4, 2022 – Florida City Pineland Preserve As part of the Pine Rockland Working Group conference, a field trip was held at Florida City Pineland Preserve, where Alex Seasholtz and Tim Joyner from Miami-Dade County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands Program led groups (students from Advanced Achievers Academy) around the preserve showing the ongoing restoration efforts.
September 30th, 2023- Florida City Pineland Preserve In partnership with the Environmentally Endangered Lands Program, IRC assisted in hosting a Black Forest Tree Planting event, along with the NAACP South Dade Branch, North American Butterfly Association, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden's Connect to Protect Network program and MIT's Poetic Justice Project, who dedicated a Black Forest Monument at the event. IRC provided guidance and assistance in the installment of 150 native plants, in dedication to the 100,000 Black lives lost to Covid-19.
April 8th, 2023- Florida City Pineland Preserve In collaboration with Miami-Dade Environmentally Endangered Lands program, IRC helped to host the Florida City Pineland Volunteer Day with Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden's Connect to Protect Network, NAACP Miami-Dade Branch and Citizens for a Better South Florida. Over 75 volunteers participated in the plantings of more than 700 native species, effectively transforming what were once very degraded areas of the Florida City Pineland Preserve.
