Big Waters Land Trust (formerly Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast) has announced the permanent conservation of 14.5 acres at The Elling Eide Center in Sarasota County. The Elling Eide Center is a 72-acre preserve of rare coastal uplands which houses the largest private Asian Studies library and research center in the western hemisphere.

Sarasota County’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program purchased the conservation easement on Feb. 4, and the land remains privately owned and managed by The Elling Eide Center. This is the 24^th property Big Waters Land Trust has conserved in partnership with Sarasota County.

Located near the Vamo community along U.S. 41, the Eide property showcases an irreplaceable slice of Sarasota's historic coastal natural areas that have largely been lost to development. The newly protected acreage is on Little Sarasota Bay, an estuary of national significance, protecting against future erosion and flooding, while also safeguarding critical shoreline habitat, including rare maritime hammock home to many tropical plants nearing the northern extent of their range in coastal Sarasota County. The land is adjacent to the 11-acre Bayonne Preserve and part of the Bayonne Protection Priority site, which protects important cultural resources and provides a small refuge for gopher tortoises and other imperiled species.