As you walk through the Porter-Russell Pine Rockland Preserve, you can smell the sweet scent of native pines and oaks. But beneath the tall open canopy of slash pines, rich understory of palms, shrubs and wildflowers lies a sad truth, an urban oasis endangered and at risk of disappearing.

On a recent Saturday a group of 20 local students and other residents gathered to collect plant debris and trash to help maintain the native landscape, at 22100 SW 124th Ave. The volunteers began bright and early at 8:30 a.m. to collect piles of large dry wood, weeds and non-native plants to help prevent any future wildfires and exotic plants from taking over the habitat. The sound of a machete hacking away carried over from a distance as a local landscaper chopped plant matter from the fence lines of the adjacent neighbors. The workday was supervised and operated from the Tropical Audubon Society, or TAS, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting South Florida’s environment along with other conservation organizations.

As volunteers traveled back and forth through the open trail of the preserve, one of the local students from Palmetto Middle School, Chris Ingham, 13, was surprised when he found a dirty carseat cover at the very end of the preserve.

“There is a sign out there that says ‘No Dumping.’ I feel bad because people throw junk here and we need to educate locals to prevent further dumping,” said Ingham. “I think it’s a pretty cool movement to clean this place up and in the future it could be a potential park!”

The eight acres of pine rockland habitat harbors a diverse array of tropical and subtropical plants and animals that are endemic to South Florida, some of which are among Florida’s rarest species. Today, less than 4,000 acres remain outside of Everglades National Park making it roughly two percent of the original extent that remains in Miami-Dade County.

TAS recently received a grant from Toyota’s “Together Green” program a partnership with the National Audubon Society. With this help, TAS joined forces with TREEmendous Miami and the Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC) to help restore the endangered habitat and provide resources for residents to better maintain the preserve.

TAS executive director Laura Reynolds says the vision is to educate the public on environmental issues and gain a better understanding on the benefits of preserving and connecting green spaces. As for green spaces with native plants ultimately require less water and are excellent ways for locals to conserve water while feeding wildlife and help animals travel from space to space.

“If you don’t connect with nature at a young age you can easily pass by a green space and not know the importance, it’s not wasted space and nothing could be further from the truth,” said Reynolds. “Our mission is to have people get outdoors and experience the habitat for themselves and not be afraid of it.”

For TAS conservation and restoration intern Celeste De Palma, 26, volunteering has helped her realize the importance of building relationships between neighbors and learning about their concerns as well.

“We’ve been doing door to door outreach to educate residents in the area and we are getting good responses,” said De Palma. “ It’s been gratifying, now they know what this is and now we’re trying to work towards helping them plant native plants in their backyard through our native plant sales.”

According to the Florida Natural Areas Inventory, South Florida’s pine rocklands rank as ‘globally imperiled.’ Pine rocklands continue to disappear as urban developments increase and there are very few fragmented parcels left around Miami-Dade County today.

Daryl Wooten, 14, a volunteer from Frank C. Martin International K-8 Center says fulfilling your required community service hours is simply not enough and students should take their time to find the right program.

“I wanted to do something with other people and be a part of a team, not just something random, but something that has a meaning and I found it here,” said Wooten. “ There is a lot of litter here and I think I’m helping the environment and most of all I’m helping make this community a better place.”