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To help nature in the city you can also:
Volunteer to
do
habitat restoration
Plant a
wildlife-friendly backyard
Advocate That City officials take care of San Francisco's nature and natural
areas.
The
Ecology of San Francisco
Wild Nature in the City
Imagine the city of San Francisco
from above, painted upon the ancient
peninsula, transforming and fragmenting the natural landscape into disconnected ecological islands. Despite urban development, the
city harbors its own local ecology,
including a great biodiversity of birds, reptiles &
amphibians, mammals, and butterflies.
These wild creatures endure in precious and vulnerable native
habitats and natural areas. Our urban nature and rich natural
heritage is
magnificent, but it is imperiled.
Local
Environmental Crisis
Consensus has emerged
that Earth is warming rapidly toward a potential global
climate catastrophe. San Francisco is located in a global biodiversity
hotspot, harboring myriad rare and threatened
habitats for endangered plants and animals, and the wild nature of San
Francisco is experiencing its own environmental crisis:
·The
City's watersheds and biodiversity are fragmented and
severely impacted
by invasive plants,
ecologically insensitive uses, and public and institutional lack of
awareness;
·
In
the modern world, opportunities for people, our children, to connect
with
nature are elusive; our
culture is becoming increasingly disconnected and
disassociated from nature.
more on the Crisis...
Our Local Nature
Imagine the future
city of San Francisco when our rare critters and their
habitats are conserved for generations within an ecologically
sustainable network of restored watersheds and wildlife
corridors.
Such an ecological future is possible if we evolve a new cultural ecology of local nature
stewardship.
As San Franciscans, we can celebrate
our indigenous habitats and natural areas. We must also activate. We can and we must
restore ecological integrity to the City's
wildlands and biodiversity, and play our role in helping the
globe. Many other urban places do not have the fortune of San Francisco
- we can
connect with nature
where we live by stewarding
nature
in the city.
Save Yosemite Slough!
Though Governor Schwarzenegger managed to save the 48 State Parks that he had proposed for closure, including Candlestick Point State Recreation Area,
now he is threatening to revoke $5 Million in Prop 84 monies from the Yosemite Slough Restoration Project. Please go to the Neighborhood Parks Council's website for a sample letter to
write to Assemblyman Mark Leno to ask him to restore the funding in this year's budget.
Candlestick is in the midst of a
multi-year remediation and restoration project that addresses acute
contamination from industrial and military pollution. Literacy for Environmental Justice's Native Plant Nursery at Candlestick trains
youth interns from Bayview Hunters Point to grow the native plants
for the Candlestick wetland restoration project. The future of
the remediation and the community based restoration project is at
stake.
Save Our State Parks (SOS)
is a California State Parks Foundation campaign to save 48 state parks
from closure. Go to the website to find out ways you can help keep the
parks from
closing, spread the word about the campaign, contact local legislators
and tell them why Candlestick means so much to you (and to ALL of San Francisco!!)
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