In the southern part of Florida is the Everglades National Park, with an area of more than 6,000 square kilometers. It is part of the UNESCO world heritage.
On the state map, the park looks like a huge space that is covered with swamps, in fact it is a huge number of lakes and swamps, rivers and channels. There are not many islands of land here, they are covered with forest, in some places there are thickets of grass, which reaches a height of four meters.
On the territory of the National Park there are more than 2000 species of plants found in temperate climates and tropical forests. Here you can see such different mangrove coastal forests and lowland prairies, freshwater swamps and cypress domes, pine sparse forests and subtropical hammocks. There are 25 species of orchids native to the area.
The park is distinguished by the richness of its fauna. There are cuckoos, cranes and flamingos, herons and storks, ibises and spoonbills. Among birds of prey there is a rare representative – the public plumed kite, osprey and red-shouldered buzzard, one can observe sandpipers, pelicans and terns. Animal life is represented by river otters and sharp-toothed crocodiles, deer, cougars and alligators. This is the only place where alligators and crocodiles are neighbors. In all, there are over 36 species of animals that are on the endangered species line, as well as seven very rare species of birds found in the national park.
More exotic plants for the area can be seen in the Japanese gardens at the Morikami Museum, which also houses a collection of artwork by Japanese masters.