Chris Bergh, The Nature Conservancy’s Florida field program director based in the Lower Keys, is optimistic about the Florida Keys’ future and ability to adapt to environmental challenges in the next few decades.
The Nature Conservancy manages about 645 acres of land from Key Largo to the Saddlebunch Keys, seven miles east of Key West. Chris is a passionate speaker about conservation and preservation of Florida’s natural resources throughout the state.
Chris, who often shares his environmental message as a speaker, believes strongly that when people take care of nature, nature reciprocates.
“Compared to other parts of the state, there’s less development in the Keys. Even though we see redevelopment, many of our natural resources — such as natural hardwood hammocks — are well protected and managed,” Chris said. “I feel good about where we’re at now, but I am concerned about sea level rise.”
His top priorities include protecting the Keys’ water quality and its environmental biodiversity to save endangered and rare species such as the Key deer, great white heron, Lower Keys marsh rabbit, Key Largo woodrat and Miami blue butterfly.
Because natural resource management agencies have the final say on most conservation decisions in the Keys, Chris believes in working closely with academic, local, state and federal organizations — providing science-based recommendations and project collaboration.
The Nature Conservancy funds or conducts various scientific studies to identify threats to the Keys’ environment. The organization is focused on utilizing “green infrastructure” such as coral reefs, mangroves, beaches and marshes to minimize erosion and flooding.
After growing up the Keys, Chris left in 1992 to attend Arizona’s Prescott College. He earned a degree in environmental conservation and moved back to work with The Nature Conservancy, first as an intern in 1995 and then permanently in 1999.
Chris is a member of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Water Quality Protection Program Steering Committee and a former Sanctuary Advisory Council member. He is especially proud of working to restore more than 160 acres of wetlands on Big Pine Key, where he lives with wife Beth and 16-year-old son Nate.
Chris lives on Big Pine Key with his wife Beth and son Nate, and enjoys exploring the Keys’ natural world with them.
Keys Voices: When did you first come to the Florida Keys and why?
Chris Bergh: At age 2. My family relocated to Key West from Eastern Pennsylvania. They were looking for a change and better weather, and found both.
KV: What aspects of the Keys environment or way of life matter most to you?
CB: The diversity of all kinds: wildlife and plants on land and in the sea, and so many distinct cultures with their own identities.
KV: Who or what inspired you to become passionate about respecting and protecting the Keys’ natural world?
CB: I always gravitated to the outdoors. My parents encouraged me to spend time outside as a kid, playing in the little patches of woods on Key West and Stock Island, and fishing, diving, and boating whenever I had the chance. At 9, I attended a nature conservation-oriented summer camp in the Everglades, run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. I learned that managing natural areas and wildlife populations was a science and an art that I wanted to study and turn into a career.
KV: How does that passion influence your work or profession?
CB: People and nature depend on one another. Maintaining balance between protecting nature for its own sake, and ensuring that people use it sustainably so there’s plenty left for future generations, is my goal.
Chris is inspired in his work by the Keys’ environmental diversity, unique natural areas and native species including Key deer.
KV: What are some of the ways, personally or through your work, that you connect with and/or help protect the local environment and unique lifestyle?
CB: Being outdoors in the Keys. I walk the trails on Big Pine Key daily with my dogs and get out into the backcountry of the Lower Keys pretty frequently. Sharing all of this with my son helps me see how unique our natural areas and native species are, and keeps me from getting complacent.
KV: What keeps you energized, challenged and focused on your path?
CB: Taking care of what nature made and past conservation efforts saved for all of us is work worth doing. It’s easy to see the positive and lasting results of conservation efforts — from one end of the Keys to the other — in our national parks and wildlife refuges, state parks and wildlife areas, city parks and private preserves, plus the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and offshore aquatic preserves. These natural areas need active management and sometimes intensive restoration to maintain their values for wildlife, plants, and people.
KV: What do you hope your positive environmental actions will accomplish?
CB: Keeping the Keys biologically diverse, productive for our economy, and enjoyable for residents and visitors alike is my objective.
KV: What’s your favorite natural or eco-friendly activity in the Keys?
CB: Walking in the pine forest on Big Pine Key.
KV: What message do you want your actions and example to communicate to people you encounter?
CB: When people take care of nature, nature takes care of us.
