Inside, everyone has a love of nature

"In the end, we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we have been taught."

Those words were said by Senegalese environmentalist Baba Dioum in 1968. And they are held high by 62-year-old conservationist M.C. Davis of Santa Rosa Beach.

Davis is doing his part to teach the children of Okaloosa, Walton and Bay counties about natural habitats so they may understand the importance of their existence, fall in love with nature, and ultimately conserve it.

Many in today's society don't even know how oxygen is made, Davis said.

"Children are growing up in cities without ever seeing and touching nature at its best," he said. "So I don't know how we can expect them to conserve and love something that they don't know anything about."

Davis owns the Nokuse Plantation, a 53,000-acre private conservation initiative near Freeport that connects more than 1 million acres of preservation land.

He made his first purchase of the land in 2001 and his final less than two years ago. It was a $65-million undertaking. And it doesn't mean anything unless it's shared with others, he said.

"It's not important if you don't inspire other people with it, especially children," he said.

Near the edge of Davis' land will be a new multimillion-dollar, 16,000-square-foot environmental education facility, the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center, named after scientist, biologist, researcher, theorist and naturalist Edward Osborne Wilson. Groundbreaking is expected by November.

"Biophilia" means an innate love of nature, which is exactly what Davis wants to pass on to future generations. People will learn what he calls the most valuable lesson planet survival.

"Inside, everyone has a love of nature. They just need to connect with it," Davis said.

Just a half-day at Nokuse Plantation is enough to get the love started, he believes.

"Take a walk along the trails, enjoy a picnic lunch on a boat, see fish jump, see squirrels run, see bobcats and coyotes at night," he said. "No matter what, you'll like nature more."

The mission of the Biophilia Center is to inspire and encourage the youth of Northwest Florida to become stewards of the area's precious natural resources. They'll learn first-hand by touring the grounds of Nokuse Plantation, and they'll receive formal teaching with microscopes in laboratories.

"We want to give children every opportunity to fall in love," he said.

Davis said he is working with the Walton, Okaloosa and Bay county school systems to bring students to the Biophilia Center at least three times before they graduate from high school once in elementary school, once in middle school and again in high school. He is also working with various colleges to bring students to the property.

"For the younger children, we want them to know it's OK to get your feet wet in the pond. This is just fun," said ecologist Margaret Gunzburger, who will direct the educational center's curriculum. "For the older ones, we're teaching them the big picture, the scientific aspect of it. This may be the only experience many children have with this."

Nokuse Plantation is the largest private conservation tract east of the Mississippi River. And, with biodiversity, big is better, Davis said. The land needs to be large enough to function independently.

Nokuse (pronounced "no-gosee") is the Creek Indian word for black bear and symbolizes the desire of the eventually restored ecosystems to provide suitable habitat for large, ranging mammals.

It's "umbrella species" is the Florida black bear, meaning if Nokuse Plantation is a secured, suitable habitat for black bears, other less demanding species will also be protected.

The property is home to a variety of native plants and animals, and as its restoration of natural communities continues, their abundance and diversity are expected to increase.

"We find new things out here all the time," Gunzburger said. "It's amazing what you'll find just by scooping up some dirt from the creek and putting it under the microscope."

Across the plantation, one finds gopher tortoise, deer, bobcat, turkey, swallowtail butterfly, great blue heron, river otter, corn snake, barred owl, yellowcrowned night heron, gray fox and alligator.

Plants include meadow beauty, trumpet pitcher plant, southern red lily, yellow colic root, fringe tree, orchid, yellow pitcher plant, parrot pitcher plant, dogwood tree and red maple trees.

And bodies of water are scattered throughout, including the Choctawhatchee River and Dismal Slough.

Nokuse Plantation consists of a rich compilation of upland, wetland and freshwater communities that provide habitat for threatened and endangered species. They are defined by an interplay of soils, topography, hydrology and fire, acting together to provide diverse habitat requirements. The communities serve as a reservoir of historic biodiversity of the Panhandle.

Some of the communities have been degraded by human activities, including agriculture, silviculture and road construction. As such, restoration to historic composition is a goal of Nokuse Plantation.