INDIANAPOLIS (AP): A real estate developer has donated 50 acres near Indianapolis International Airport to a land trust that will turn the site into a nature preserve.

Holladay Properties announced Thursday that it's donating the land valued at about $4.3 million to the Central Indiana Land Trust.

The Indianapolis-based land trust will manage the acreage to encourage native plants and animals, including the endangered Indiana bat. That mouse-sized species has been spotted in the area.

The land trust's interim director, Cliff Chapman, says the group will plant native trees and shrubs and make other improvements to encourage the bats and other wildlife to use the property.

Holladay Properties is donating $125,000 for a stewardship fund to support those efforts. The site will eventually be open to the public.