Fairchild has partnered with Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL). These preserves in Miami-Dade County are lands set aside as refuge for some of South Florida’s endangered plants, animals and ecosystems. EEL preserves are dotted throughout our county, and there might be one in your neighborhood!

For this Challenge, we are asking for your help in educating neighborhoods on a community resource that is often overlooked: their local EEL Preserve! If we see urban preserves as a part of our own neighborhood, we can appreciate their value while also encouraging collective stewardship. Identify your local EEL Preserve (map of EEL preserves here). Which of the four main South Florida habitats are found in it: pine rockland, hardwood hammock, scrub, or wetland? Use creativity, research, and communication skills to design a foldable informational pamphlet for your neighborhood that introduces the EEL Preserve closest to you. Include information about what might be common to see or experience when living close to an urban preserve with that habitat. Be sure to explain benefits such as being outdoors and how EEL Preserves contribute to urban resilience. Think about how they improve our lives by combatting real-world environmental issues like pollution, heat, flooding, stormwater reduction, drinking water recharge, and carbon sequestration. EEL Preserve managers will use your work to educate households near EEL Preserves. Download information as one page with lesson plan