Conserve & Restore Native Ecosystems

It’s been more than a decade since Brevard Zoo jumped into action with programs aimed at balancing the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) ecosystem. With the IRL in our backyard, we recognized the importance of taking a leadership position in restoration and protection of this regional resource.

Home to more than 4,000 species of plants and animals, 50 of which are listed as endangered or threatened, our work has been focused on finding environmentally friendly solutions for water quality improvement, habitat protection and restoration, biodiversity expansion, and increased resilience to storm damage and erosion.

Staff and thousands of volunteers from the community work steadily on living shoreline solutions that restore populations of native, filter-feeding oysters to the lagoon, grow protective mangroves, seed restorative clam beds, replace nutrient-rich seagrasses, restore and build new reefs, and create buffer zones to stem pollution and algae blooms.

We’ve established a solid foundation for current and future initiatives focused on best practices, streamlined processes, data collection and analysis that allows us to constantly evolve in our mission to combat factors affecting lagoon health. We hope you’ll join us.