John Moran Wildflower Photos Available for Ecotourism Promotions

Thanks to funding assistance from Visit Florida, 80 beautiful photos of native Florida wildflowers are available for use in state ecotourism promotions.

The photo library, co-funded and managed by the Florida Wildflower Foundation, boasts a colorful bouquet of unique wildflowers, some of which occur nowhere else in the world. More than 3,000 species are found in La Florida, “land of flowers” – which was named by Juan Ponce de Leon when he arrived on Easter in 1513. The land’s bounty of spring flowers almost certainly influenced his name choice.

Florida has the nation’s third-largest diversity of wildflowers – a fact that is getting attention from ecotourists around the world. “John’s beautiful work is just a sampling of what’s found on Florida’s roadsides and in its wild places. The shots are sure to entice more interest in exploring our natural side,” said Lisa Roberts, the Foundation’s executive director.

Moran is a highly regarded nature photographer whose work has appeared in National Geographic, Life, Time, Newsweek, Smithsonian and The New York Times Magazine, as well as on the cover of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Florida. He has been the National Press Photographers Association’s Southeastern U.S. Photographer of the Year, and his photo of Paynes Prairie State Park alligators at dusk was the top-placed American photograph in the United Nations Earth Summit photo contest. His work can be viewed at johnmoranphoto.com.

Visit Florida partners may obtain the photos by contacting Lisa Roberts at 407-353-6164 or lroberts@flawildflowers.org.

Visit Florida – the state’s official tourism marketing corporation – promotes tourism to Florida through sales, advertising, promotions, public relations, new product development and visitor services programs.

The Florida Wildflower Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching lives with Florida native wildflowers through research, planting and education projects. For more information about Florida’s wildflowers, visit its Web site, www.flawildflowers.org.