Everglades

Everglades
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Everglades National Park is centered on a fresh water river, with sawgrass marshes and mangrove islands.

The park holds the largest continuous stand of sawgrass prairie in North America and the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western hemisphere. It’s the habitat of some 14 threatened species


Year Decision Comments
2007Removed from Danger listConsiderable efforts and investments made in the restoration and conservation
1993In Danger
1979 Inscribed Reasons for inscription

Reviews

Charles Crabtree (USA):
To truly experience the Everglades one must be willing to be somewhat adventuresome.A trip down the coastline in a kayak or a canoe trip into the interior is a camping experience of a lifetime. I see the tourist fly by in their automobiles, stopping just long enough to snap a few camera shots, then leave the same day...Camp overnight, go on a guided tour, rent a canoe, talk to the Park Rangers. Live for a few days out-side of the box and see what wonders this park has to offer..You won't be dissappointed..
Date posted: November 2008
Philip T.K. (Canada):
I only had two hours to visit Everglades National Park and it was definitely not enough time; the park is huge! I was only able to visit the Anhinga Trail and Pineland Trail, both near the Ernest Coe Visitor Center and the main park entrance. I absolutely recommend the Anhinga Trail. The wildlife there is amazing; I saw alligators, turtles and many different types of birds. I even saw a bird catch and eat a fish near the entrance. If you only have time to visit one place in the Everglades, this is definitely it. I left the trail fully satisfied. I could not believe I was actually in Florida. The Pineland Trail is also worth a visit although no wildlife could be seen here. My trip to the park was brief but it gave me a taste for a longer visit in the future. It is sad to note that the Everglades is one of only two endangered sites located in developed countries, the other being Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany.

Update: The site was removed from the endangered list during the 31st Session of the World Heritage Committee in 2007.
 
Emilia Bautista King (U.S.A.):
The Everglades is one of 26 World Heritage Sites in danger and according to Smithsonian magazine, is currently "the focus of the world's largest environmental restoration project." It is the only place on earth that has both alligators and crocodiles living side by side. And contrary to what people say, it's a marsh, not a swamp because its main vegetation is grassy, not woody.

I went to the Everglades in March 2003 to go canoeing with my husband. He wanted us to canoe for a day and camp on a chickee, a wooden raised platform above the marsh. I wasn't crash hot on the idea but little did I know that my husband had planned on proposing that night on the chickee. We canoed for a few hours but got terribly lost. We gave up on reaching the chickee and decided to turn back before the sun went down. Needless to say, I didn't get my proposal that night but a few nights later in Key West, right beside the Atlantic Ocean!
Date posted: March 2006
James Kovacs (USA):
I was not that impressed with the Everglades.
I didn't hold any scenic marvels for me nor did it
seem to capture my interest or imagination.
I know the Everglades are a vital and important natural
South Florida resource. But I thought the experience
of going to the Everglades was of little touristic value.
Date posted: February 2006
Paul Tanner (UK):
If you are visiting the man-made and theme park attractions or beach resorts of Central Florida it is certainly a bit out of the way to get down to the Everglades but, combined with a trip to Art Deco Miami Beach and out to Key West, it can be well worthwhile.

The Everglades is situated only a few miles SW of the enormous Miami conurbation and is on the list of Endangered WHS both because of the effect of water usage and diversions “upstream” of the park which threaten to deny the area the water supply it needs to maintain its ecosystem and because of the pollution caused by fertilisers etc.

It will be said of most US National Parks that you need to get out of your car to really appreciate them and this is perhaps particularly true of the Everglades. A large part of the Park consists of Florida Bay and its myriad of Keys (but the boundary runs just inside of Highway 1 down to Key West) and the land based part really only has 1 highway crossing it and another skirting the boundary to the North.

It might have been nice to get out onto the water, whether on the Bay or on a canoe on the many canoe trails – but we had neither time nor skill. Neither did we particularly fancy an “Airboat tour” on craft driven by noisy airplane engines with rear facing propellers. So we made do with driving along most of the available roads and going on some of the walks. We decided to give the touristy “Tram Tour” at Shark Valley a miss and walked the tarmac-covered trail instead. We found this a very pleasant side trip and, once a tram has passed, you are likely to meet only the occasional cyclist. We were amazed at just how much wild life there was and are unlikely to ever walk as close to an alligator again. You are advised to keep at around 5 metres distance and my personal photos seem to show we (albeit unwisely) got a good bit closer! Apparently the Alligators out on land are more likely to be afraid of humans – but it still seems amazing that attacks are not so frequent as to require stricter safety measures!

There is quite a range of scenery - from open “saw grass” plains with their “Hammocks” (dry “Islands” covered in trees and rising a few feet above the surrounding area) to dark mossy forested swamps. We were there in pleasant December – beware the mosquitoes from March to October!
Date posted: July 2005
Ben Pastore (USA):
Most people wouldn't assosciate swamps with valuable real estate, but this park, encompassing almost the entire southern tip of the state of Florida, has an ecological value that goes beyond dollars and cents. This is nature in the raw, with all its random beauty just a few steps from Miami. Wildlife here isn't just present-it abounds, from alligators to turtles to flocks of our feathered friends. It's nice to see what little effect human habitation appears to have had in this remote yet accessible wilderness.
Date posted: June 2005


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