His work lives on after him…
Nokuse Plantation is in the northeast of the state of Florida. Its area is 220km². It is considered the biggest nature reserve in the southeast of the US. And it grew up thanks to the efforts of entrepreneur Marion Clifton Davis and his wife Stella.
These Americans spent ninety million dollars to restore and protect the unique landscape of their home-state. There are now more than eight million seedlings growing in Nokuse, which have become home to a large number of animals.
According to Davis, everything started in 2000. He was once stuck in a traffic jam. It was raining, and the entrepreneur was not in the mood. He looked out of the window and saw a school tent with the inscription “The Presentation of the Black Bear” on it. It was too boring in the traffic, so he decided to visit the tent. There turned out to be a lecture to schoolchildren about their native land.
Davis decided to listen to the lecture. The lecturer was telling how the nature was constantly dying and that we need to protect and preserve it. The children’s lecture became revelation for the businessman. He got deeply into in this topic of ecology, read books and decided to devote his life to it. He also involved his wife in his restoration idea.
Marion Clifton and Stella bought the lands of timber companies. Here they started the revival of the forest. Back in the 30s, bishop pines were completely cut and used as lumber in the area.
And the team of ecologists that Davis had gathered, managed to bring this plant back to the forest. Today, there are eagles, lynxes, foxes, racoons, armadillos and many other animals living in Nokuse. By the way, the word nokuse means black bear in the language of one of the local Indian tribes.
Unfortunately, Davis passed away in 2015. But his work lives on after him.
The businessman spent all his money on a long-term development program for his project, as well as on the maintenance of the environmental education center.
