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The Miami
Herald Bush will congratulate him ``for your excellent coastal conservation initiatives.'' ''I was kind of shocked,'' Shimonski said of winning the award. ``But we are showing that development can be benign environmentally.'' For years, Shimonski has used Integrated Pest Management -- watching for insects and diseases instead of spraying first -- as well as the right kind of cultivation and irrigation practices. He uses only compost for planting and avoids chemical pesticides. He has saved the attraction $156,000 a year by composting instead of hauling plant and animal waste to the dump, and another $1,300 that once was spent each year on soil and mulch. Translated to Watson Island where Parrot Jungle is relocating, these techniques become excellent coastal (as well as inland) conservation practices. Shimonski will participate in a discussion and conference on sustainability, be feted at a reception then be presented with his award. Shimonski grew up in Germany. His father was in the service and his mother was German. 'We stayed in Germany while my father was in Korea,'' Shimonski said. ``We moved to Florida in 1961, when he retired.'' At 46, Shimonski has been in horticulture for 30 years, beginning with summer vacations from Miami Norland Senior High. He worked with a Fort Lauderdale landscape company before college. He entered Miami-Dade Community College in 1974 and, in 1975, began working at Parrot Jungle and Gardens. He instituted a composting system at Parrot Jungle several years ago and was responsible for the attraction's clean-up after Hurricane Andrew. Shimonski is also a photographer, whose work can be seen on his website, www.tropicaldesigns.com, and a practitioner of aikido, a form of the martial arts. He teaches aikido on Friday nights in Fort Lauderdale, although he lives in South Miami. Now heading up the horticultural development of Parrot Jungle Island, Shimonski looks back at his work at the original garden and says he is proudest of ''trying to maintain the park to the standards set by Franz Scherr'' who began it in 1936. ``That's what made the park in the first place, the attention to detail. ''Attention
to detail and maintaining standards are qualities that caught the eye
of the Council for Sustainable Florida. J. Allison DeFoor, Council president,
said in his letter to Shimonski, ``Thank you on behalf of all Floridians
for your hard work and efforts to create a more sustainable future for
Florida.''
Photo: JARED LAZARUS / HERALD STAFF
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Contact:
Jeff Shimonski
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Jeff Shimonski,
director of horticulture for Parrot Jungle, has received a 2002 conservation
award from the Council for a Sustainable Florida. He will go to Tallahassee
Oct. 7 to participate in a round-table discussion and conference, then
be presented with the award by Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet.