Ecological Corridors:  Biological + Cultural Diversity

Here with Climate Action Now!, we measure our success in several ways.  First and foremost, we measure our success in diversity and participation.  Our botanical selections represent our City’s cultural diversity, with plants represented indigenous to San Francisco as well as others from throughout the world.

California native and other drought tolerant plants are selected to ensure longevity, and adaptation to California’s drying climate.  

Ensuring flower production throughout the seasons increases forage capacity for local pollinators, creating hubs of biodiversity from hummingbirds to bats, bumblebees and moths.

Diversity in the urban forest is key as the climate changes.  California native trees, like Monterrey Cypress, California Buckeye, Coast Live Oak, and Toyon thrive in the Sunset District’s coastal dunes.  Southern California’s Channel Island trees like the Catalina Ironwood, Island Oak and Island Cherry can handle the western blistery ocean exposure also found in the Sunset District.  Trees like these have been selected because precipitation patters are changing. And with rainfall more and more resembling that of southern California every winter, we’re planning a plant palette for California’s future.

Some other climate adapted trees were selected for this reason as well.  It is said that if you want to know what California’s climate will feel like in 20 years, look at Australia today. 

Australia is a very dry continent, however parts of the country share California’s “Mediterranean climate.”  Trees from that part of Australia perform very well in California because the winter precipitation and mild climate are similar.  Species from New Zealand, like the New Zealand Christmas Tree, Norfolk Island and Cook Island (like the Norfolk and Cook Island Pines) perform well in California for similar reasons.

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Students from George Washington High School will receive stipends to learn about urban forestry, climate change and biodiversity, while participating in a dynamic internship funded by the California ReLEAF Social Equity Grant Program as well as funding from the SF Public Utilities Commission Project Learning Partnership grant.

#10 interns in 2018-2019 and #12 student interns from 2019-2020 have received a stipend of $1,000 for participating in the year-long program whose focus ranges from solar design, installation and maintenance to urban forestry, bee keeping, organic agriculture and soil building.  Thank you CalFire!”