Happy Friday and Happy World Wetlands Day! This year's theme is 'Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future', which is apt, because it's likely that Split Oak will be surrounded by a suburban/urban Orlando-style development in the not-so-distant future.

I've recognized this "holiday" since I learned about it last year. It celebrates the 'Convention on Wetlands' adoption by 7 states under the jurisdiction of UNESCO. This convention is commonly known as the 'Ramsar Convention' after Ramsar, Iran, where this international treaty was signed. 'Ramsar's most common usage is in referring to wetlands that have international significance, like the Everglades, the Okefenokee Swamp, and Corkscrew Swamp. There are four Ramsar-designated wetlands in Florida and 38 in the United States.

Split Oak's sawgrass marsh from viewing platform in November 2017.

I'd like to take this moment to recognize Split Oak Forest's wetlands, the baygalls, the isolated marshes, the cypress domes, and, the pre-eminent sawgrass marsh. I'd like to take this moment to show a photo series of the sawgrass marsh since 1944.