Near the Sorrento neighborhood in Gainesville Florida, there are several neighborhood natural areas that are maintained by the Homeowner Association in collaboration with St. Johns River Management District. These areas are forested with several natural retention ponds and is just west of the Hogtown Creek Headwaters Nature Park that is managed by Gainesville Parks. Residents in the area collaborated with University of Florida’s Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, and IFAS Extension to install an educational sign that has 5 educational panels that discuss wildlife around a pond, landscaping native plants, invasive exotics, pollinators, and bird habitat. These panels are rotated throughout the year by the homeowner association.

iNaturalist: Residents in the Sorrento neighborhood are monitoring plants and animals in the area with the iNaturalist program and their iNaturalist project can be found here. If interested in participating in the iNaturalist project, contact Dr. Mark Hostetler (hostetm@ufl.edu).

Restoration Activities: Sorrento residents collaborated with Alachua County Department of Environmental Protection, University of Florida’s Department of Wildlife Ecology, and UF students to remove the invasive plant, Coral Ardisia, from the natural area on the east side of the community. More than 10 large trash bags of Coral Ardisia were removed in January of 2020!  If interested in learning more about the natural areas, becoming involved in the iNaturalist neighborhood project, and even doing restoration, please contact the Sorrento manager Janet Fetterman (clubsorrento@emmergroup.com ) and Mark Hostetler (hostetm@ufl.edu).