Report: Everglades generates $31.5B a year, worth $1T over 50 years

Gulfshore Business, July 10, 2025

Sheet flow in the Florida Everglades, photographed by Luis Falcon.

Amid daily headlines about the controversial Alligator Alcatraz detention center that opened this month, the nonprofit Everglades Foundation has released a report highlighting the Everglades’ $31.5 billion annual economic impact — the largest of any subtropical wetland system in the continental U.S.

The report, done in collaboration with Tacoma, Washington-based nonprofit Earth Economics, estimates the value of ecosystem services provided by the Everglades at more than $1 trillion over the next 50 years.

Unveiled in June at the America’s Everglades Summit in Washington, D.C., the report — titled Thriving Everglades, Thriving Economy: Nature’s Value in the Everglades — breaks down the Everglades’ $31.5 billion annual economic impact into seven key ecosystem services: $9.2 billion from real estate enhancement, $8.5 billion from recreation, $8.4 billion from protection against extreme weather, $3.3 billion from biodiversity and habitat, $781 million from carbon sequestration, $26.7 million from commercial fishing and critical water supply for millions of people. Ecosystem services, the report says, “are the direct and indirect benefits people receive from functional natural systems, providing fresh water, food and clean air, while also supporting quality of life, cultural identity, recreational opportunities and more.”

The introduction to the report describes what the two organizations call Florida’s Clean Water Economy,an amalgam of industry sectors within the 16-county Everglades watershed “whose very existence depends upon clean water, pristine beaches and healthy fisheries.”

Everglades’ health tied to economic health 

The report states that the most substantial Everglades ecosystem benefits are “deeply interlinked with South Florida’s largest economic sectors: tourism and real estate.”

Paul Hindsley, chief economist at the Miami-Dade County-based Everglades Foundation and co-author of the study, said the report provides evidence on how the health of the Everglades is directly tied to the economic well-being of Florida.

He said restoring the Everglades “secures economic prosperity today and safeguards its benefits for generations to come,” and noted that climate and natural amenities are big factors in attracting visitors and new residents to the state, especially over the last five years — with big economic implications. 

“As we see in this report, this plays out in a number of different ways: It plays out in tourism and all the industries connected to tourism; in outdoor recreation industries; and in real estate,” Hindsley said. “But it also plays a major role in other important factors that we connect to the goods we receive, the water we depend on, as well as what we call this critical natural infrastructure: The way that the system [Everglades] regulates the world around us and our water and reduces the impacts of natural hazards. 

“So, it’s critical for our life in South Florida and it plays out in the economic activity that occurs in South Florida.” 

Read Gulfshore Business' article here: https://www.gulfshorebusiness.com/tourism/report-everglades-generates-31-5b-a-year-worth-1t-over-50-years/article_99ae1adb-d4e1-561b-91a1-8754737b4108.html 

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