Environmental awareness is an important first step to taking responsibility for our limited and valuable natural resources. There are many ways to learn about our ecosystem, including through school programs or participation in a local clean-up or tree planting project.

Learning can take place in non-traditional ways, too! That’s exactly what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District are counting on. These agencies – and others in south Florida – are placing interactive computer kiosks throughout the 16-county CERP region to teach children, students and adults about Everglades restoration in a fun and creative way. The kiosks are designed to bring the CERP message to the public, serving as an information tool that provides an overview of the Everglades restoration plan and how this $10.5 billion effort will restore America’s River of Grass and south Florida’s ecosystem.

The kiosks explain the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) in easy-to-understand language for the general public. “CERP kiosks are being placed in shopping malls, libraries, museums, schools, offices and nature centers throughout south Florida and even at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.,” reports Nanciann Regalado, chief of corporate communication for the Corps’ Jacksonville District.

One CERP kiosk will be placed at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in western Palm Beach County. The Refuge contains remaining Everglades’ freshwater wetlands and is visited by 300,000 people each year. Another kiosk will be placed at the Corps’ South Florida Operations Office, located in Clewiston along Lake Okeechobee. The lake has been referred to as the liquid heart of the Everglades and is the second-largest freshwater lake entirely within the continental United States.

Regional service centers of the South Florida Water Management District will soon be introducing new CERP kiosks in their communities. Other CERP kiosks have been rotated for temporary stays at various locations including the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach Community College in Belle Glade.

Recognizing the educational value of the kiosks, other agencies and organizations including the Loxahatchee River District in Jupiter and Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center in Stuart have purchased CERP kiosks for their own use. The Corps, which developed and updates the program – including an upcoming Spanish translation – furnishes the software at no additional cost.

The Journey of Wayne Drop to the Everglades, which explains the Everglades ecosystem in plain English, is also now available in Spanish and will soon be available in Creole. The Wayne Drop story follows a drop of water named Wayne as he rides through the Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades ecosystem having fun and learning lessons along the way.

Friendly characters, colorful illustrations, youthful language, photographs, maps and games help young students appreciate and understand this fragile ecosystem. The story touches on important concepts including the water cycle, wetland habitats, endangered species, water resources and water conservation, and introduces the agencies responsible for their protection.

Spanish speakers will read El Viaje De Wayne Drop a los Everglades and Creole speakers will read Vwayaj Wayne Drop nan Everglades la. The Spanish version is now online at www.evergladesplan.org, and the Creole version will be added later this summer. All versions of the storybook, as well as the companion teacher’s guide and lesson plans, were developed through the combined efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Everglades National Park, the South Florida Water Management District, and classroom teachers.

In all three languages, the goal is to use Wayne’s story to reach people across the country to include everyone in CERP!

There’s an exciting addition planned for the official CERP website! From the homepage of www.evergladesplan.org, visitors will be able to click on a new link to an all-Creole web page.

Haitian Creole, the official language of Haiti, is based on the French language. Today, many Haitians are living in south Florida and other areas of the United States. The Creole addition to the website is one of many special efforts underway to include Haitian-Americans in the plan to restore America’s Everglades.

Website visitors can also view streaming video of a talk show called Vision of the Everglades Through Haitian Eyes. The program, which aired in May on south Florida Haitian television stations in observance of Haitian Awareness Month, is in a combination of English and Creole. Outreach specialist Joseph Jean-Baptiste of the South Florida Water Management District explains CERP and how people can get involved to help restore the Everglades and protect south Florida’s ecosystem. The show also features Haitian artist Myriam Jourdan, who created a painting reflecting the beauty of the Everglades.

The addition of a Creole website section is just one of many initiatives to bring the CERP message to a wide range of minority groups in south Florida.

Everglades restoration will create more than 50 individual projects, which each may provide unique recreational opportunities for the public. Examples may include bird watching, hiking, fishing and other outdoor activities. Recreation will be considered when it is compatible with the overall goals of CERP and those of the individual projects. Public meetings will be held throughout south Florida from July 31 through early October for input.  To learn about upcoming meetings, visit www.evergladesplan.org or call 1-877-CERP-USA.

Children draw Everglades-themed artworks at an Earth Day event at the North Miami Library in April.

In recognition of Earth Day, children’s original artworks are displayed at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Aventura in May.

First to fifth graders visit the CERP booth at the Environmental Fair in Homestead in May, sponsored by the Sweet Vine Youth Center.

A visitor at the 20th Annual Government Small Business Conference in Tampa in May learns about contracting opportunities with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District.