On a crisp January morning, 10 preschoolers from the Children’s Education Center of the Islands (CECI) joined SCCF biologists to look for gopher tortoises! Children ages 2 – 4 learned what gopher tortoises need to thrive and their importance to our ecosystems.

CECI students joined biologists on a walk through SCCF’s C.R. Johnston Preserve, which is closed to the public to protect wildlife. Thanks to weekly volunteer efforts, it is currently being enhanced to allow the resident gopher tortoises to thrive in their ideal coastal scrub habitat.

Since recent hurricanes, the preserve’s open, sandy upland (coastal scrub) environment that gopher tortoises rely on for burrowing, nesting, and foraging has become overgrown with invasive and native-aggressive plant species.

For the past four months, SCCF has been hosting volunteer events at the preserve to help remove these invasive plant species and thinning overgrown vegetation, which will make way for the planting of native ground cover later on in the project.

Children got the opportunity to learn why this newly restored habitat is important, and even got the chance to see a gopher tortoise through a scope that biologists carefully placed inside an active burrow!

They also learned that gopher tortoises are a keystone species, meaning more than 350 other animals use their burrows for shelter and survival.

By restoring and maintaining their habitat, SCCF is not only supporting a threatened species but also protecting the broader biodiversity of the ecosystem and allowing these reptiles to thrive for generations to come.

SCCF partners regularly with CECI to educate these young islanders on the land, water, and wildlife that make our islands so special.