A vibrant community is alive, engaged, connected and resilient. It is an inspiring place, filled with natural beauty, where people thrive and want to live for generations. The health of our vibrant community is contingent on promoting a healthy and more resilient environment.

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Broward is nestled between two of the most wondrous and fragile ecosystems, the Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean.  We are also fortunate to have miles of beautiful beaches as well as thousands of acres of parks and preserved lands spread among our fast-growing neighborhoods. All of these natural areas are economic engines that drive our tourism economy, make our community a beautiful place to live and are vital to the economic and environmental health of our region. We must protect these important natural resources today and for future generations.

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Ongoing damage to our environment could be devastating to our way of life if we don’t do more to curb pollution, protect natural areas and make our community more resilient to climate change.

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Pollution and encroaching development endanger wetlands, damage mangroves and wipe out beach dunes, which hurts dwindling wildlife habitat and weakens our natural buffers to hurricane floodwaters and rising seas. Pollution-fueled climate change is projected to raise our sea level 10 to 17 inches by 2040, which threatens to increase flooding threats for homes and businesses – along the coast and inland – while also imperiling Broward’s drinking water supplies. And rising temperatures expected from manmade climate change mean more heatwaves, stronger hurricanes and more heat-related illnesses

To make Broward a more livable, resilient and sustainable place to call home by taking local actions to protect our natural areas and make our community more resilient to climate change.

If we don’t take immediate action to protect our natural areas and prioritize resilience to climate change, our homes, our jobs, our vibrant community and even our lives are at risk.

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A few examples of hyperlocal ways to help Broward now include: clean up litter polluting beaches and wetlands, reduce/recycle single-use plastics to avoid more litter/pollution, plant mangroves along the coasts and trees throughout Broward, restore beach dunes that provide sea turtle habitat and guard against erosion, create more artificial reefs to expand marine habitat, and support educational outreach that champions energy efficiency, raises awareness about climate change and encourages environmental conservation.