The Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge is located in Southwest Florida in

Collier County Collier County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 375,752; an increase of 16.9% since the 2010 United States Census. Its county seat is East Naples, where the county offices were moved from E ...

, between Marco Island and

Everglades City, Florida Everglades City (formerly known as Everglades) is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States, of which it is the former county seat. As of the 2010 census, the population is 400. It is part of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Stati ...

. The refuge was first established in 1996 and covers 35,000 acres of the

Ten Thousand Islands The Ten Thousand Islands are a chain of islands and mangrove islets off the coast of southwest Florida, between Cape Romano (at the south end of Marco Island) and the mouth of the Lostmans River. Some of the islands are high spots on a submerg ...

. The refuge includes both fresh and saltwater, and protects a large area of

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

. Activities include fishing, hunting, bird watching, kayaking and camping. The refuge is home to a wide variety of plants and animals. There are approximately 200 species of fish, 189 species of birds and innumerable plant species.Sexton, N. R., Dietsch, A. M., Don Carlos, A. W., Koontz, L., Solomon, A. N., Miller, H. M. 2010-2011. Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge. 5

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External links

* National Wildlife Refuges in Florida Protected areas of Collier County, Florida Protected areas established in 1996 Wetlands of Florida Landforms of Collier County, Florida 1996 establishments in Florida {{CollierCountyFL-geo-stub