Biophilia – it means “the love of all living things.” And to learn a little more about the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center is to truly understand how this love can be turned into a lasting legacy.
The not-for-profit center was opened in 2009 by M.C. Davis whose success in the business world afforded him the opportunity to pursue his true passion: the natural world.
Davis grew up poor on the Florida Panhandle. To offset his family’s very tight living quarters, he spent a great deal of his childhood exploring the wide-open undeveloped areas surrounding him. As he continually educated himself over the years, Davis blossomed into a self-proclaimed “devout conservationist.”
The E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center covers 28,000 square-feet. It’s named after biologist, naturalist and writer Edward Osborne Wilson, who passed away December 26, 2021 at the age of 92. Wilson was often referred to as “the father of sociobiology and biodiversity” and “the new Darwin.” The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner has been included on prominent lists including “The 50 most influential scientists in the world today.”
The center is located on the equally impressive Nokuse Plantation (word for black bear in the Muscogee language) – the largest block of privately-owned conservation land in the southeastern United States. To create the plantation, Wilson purchased close to 54,000 acres of land, mostly from timber companies. He then introduced countless endangered animal species to the protected area and had nearly 6 million longleaf pine seedlings planted.
Through his tireless efforts and genuine virtue, Davis encouraged others to be naturalists and focus on protecting the environment. That spirit is still promoted at the center, with classes, interpretive exhibits and other opportunities for involvement. The center educates more than 5,200 students each year from a five-county area of the surrounding Panhandle. Extensive trail systems meander throughout the plantation to further enhance the exploratory experience.
If you find yourself swept up in the spirit, there are plenty of ways to get involved. Volunteers play a vital role in the continued success. The center also offers year-round awareness programs and hosts festive events such as fundraising dinners and cocktail hours. A range of “bio-membership” levels allows you to get involved however you see fit. Funding from these memberships goes toward training teachers and educating students, as well as feeding and providing medical care for animal ambassadors.
Davis passed away in 2015, but what he has left behind is part of a 300-year vision that kept him motivated into his final days. The trees he planted are slowly growing while the animals he rescued wander among them. And at the heart of it all is this incredible environmental education center that inspires a true love for all things living.
E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center
4956 State Highway 20 East
Freeport, FL 32439
(850) 835-1824
www.EOWilsonCenter.org
