Orlando Wetlands Festival

The 10th Annual Orlando Wetlands Festival was  held on Saturday, February 7, 2009, at the Fort Christmas Historical Park.

· Festival Gallery ·
· Promo Video (Real Video - Windows Media) ·

On February 7, 2009, visitors came and experienced this unique Wetland Treatment System. The events originated at the Fort Christmas Historical Park. Event co-sponsor, the Orange Audubon Society, led guided bird-watching excursions and expert-guided nature photo shoots. The Florida Native Plant Society led native plant identification hikes. Wilderness hikes were also be available by the Florida Trail Association. Expert wildlife photographers Vinny Colucci of North Carolina and Milton Heiberg of Orlando led photo expeditions. For those who like to sit and ride, guided bus tours travelled along the wetland berms, giving riders a chance to experience first hand, Florida’s wild wetlands. In addition to the numerous guided tours, the festival also featured bird banding and mist-netting demonstrations.

The Wetlands is a 1,650 acre world renowned example of Wetlands Engineering providing an oasis for flora, fauna, and feathered friends near the Ft. Christmas Park in Christmas, Florida.

The Orlando Wetlands Park represents the world’s first large scale wetlands treatment system. This wetland treatment system is a series of impoundments, which were planted with many different species of aquatic plants. These impoundments are now treatment marshes that polish excess nutrients from the reclaimed wastewater before it is discharged to the St Johns River. The water that is sent to the St Johns River is cleaner than the water within the river. So in a sense, the Wetlands are serving to help cleanup the St Johns River.