Invest Palm Beach: 2022-2023
Written By: Bler Bahidi
Published November 22, 2022
Tourism, Arts, & Culture: Palm Beach County remains one of the highest-end tourism destinations in Florida, if not the country. Its polo, equestrian and boating events mean it attracts an elite crowd. But the county needs to keep an eye out for its current residents and address staffing issues in the region if it wants to continue growing at the current pace.
What value does MacArthur Beach State Park add to the surrounding communities?
John D. MacArthur Beach State Park is an amazing place in an urban environment for local residents, and for those who come from all over the country. There are beachfront homes and condos to the south and north of the park, surrounded by our 436 acres of preserved land. When you enter the space, it is almost exactly as it was hundreds of years ago. We offer so many different opportunities for visitors. Visitors come year-round to take advantage of our ecotourism, beachfront and kayaking and paddle-board options, along with our public and environmental programs. But we also serve the community with our outreach opportunities and our environmental-focused educational program. The Friends of MacArthur Beach’s flagship service is the environmental education program, serving Palm Beach County students from first to 12th grade. Approximately 5,000 students come every year and they learn in our living laboratory through hands-on experiences, where they are reinforcing all the concepts they learned in school.
How are younger generations interacting with environmental issues?
My background is in education and nonprofit leadership, and I have been working with future generations for over 15 years. Over that time, it is interesting to see what students care about from one year to the next and what resonates with them. But there is a common theme that transcends time and generations: You can’t protect something that you don’t know about. For that reason, we are trying to instill knowledge of these great habitats and the creatures that live in them, and the interconnectedness of nature and their lives. Once the students know about it and care about it, they are able to acquire their own knowledge on the subject and carry those lessons into the future, according to their own passions and concerns. There is a lot of negative news about the environment these days and that sense of positivity that the future generation has is really empowering. The students are optimistic and have innovative ideas about how they can help solve problems that they perceive in the world. But they need to get out there and see nature for themselves before they can develop this passion.
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