Honda is donating 90 acres of land in Ohio valued at over $280,000 to The Nature Conservancy to help protect the environmentally fragile headwaters of the Big Darby Creek watershed. This donation is the latest in a 30-year partnership between Honda and The Nature Conservancy to preserve this watershed, which is one of the Midwest’s most biologically diverse aquatic systems.
“As citizens of this watershed, it’s imperative we do our part to protect it,” said Tom Shoupe, executive vice president of Honda of America. “Honda understands the significance of this property and will continue to protect and preserve the Big Darby Creek watershed.”
“We want to thank Honda for the nearly $1 million in philanthropic grants we’ve received since this partnership began which have been invaluable in advancing our conservation and volunteer program efforts, especially here in Central Ohio,” said Bill Stanley, state director for The Nature Conservancy in Ohio. “We thank Honda for this generous donation of land, which adds a critical piece to the conservation puzzle and grows our Big Darby Headwaters Nature Preserve to more than 1,000 acres.”
According to Honda, “the Big Darby Headwaters preserve protects the cold water springs and streams that combine to form the headwaters of Big Darby Creek. Big and Little Darby Creeks are noted nationally for their tremendous diversity and abundance of both aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals. They are home to 86 species of fish, five of which are endangered in Ohio. Forty-one species of freshwater mollusk live in these waters, eight of which are on the Ohio endangered list.”
The Big Darby Creek is a tributary to the Scioto River, which provides drinking water for tens of thousands of Ohioans.
Honda began manufacturing vehicles at their Marysville, Ohio plant in 1982. Two years later, Big Darby Creek was designated a state scenic river. In 1991, Honda began their partnership with The Nature Conservancy with a $100,000 contribution for watershed support. Donations have periodically followed, including 2006 and 2010 donations totaling $500,000 for the restoration of Big Darby Creek.
Honda isn’t the only company donating land to help preserve it. Earlier this year, Volkswagen gave The Conservation Fund $1.25 million to purchase land in East Tennessee.
