Demonstration
The Sustainable Citrus Program Demonstration Grove at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Florida Research Center for Agricultural Sustainability (FlaRes) has developed and is implementing a Sustainable Citrus Program (SCP) for the citrus groves located within the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) for the United States Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The primary goal of the SCP is to reduce the impact of agricultural chemicals and practices used in the MINWR citrus groves to the adjacent waters of the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) System. The SCP at the MINWR citrus groves allows the grove management practices to meet the current Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) requirement to eliminate the use of toxic or environmentally harmful pesticides on national wildlife refuges. In particular, the environmental benefits of the SCP addresses the EPA’s National Estuary Program and State of Florida’s Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program goals to attain and maintain water and sediment of sufficient quality to support a functioning macrophyte-based ecosystem that supports endangered and threatened species, fisheries and wildlife.
