Our Vision
At Sempervirens Fund, our vision is for vast swaths of redwoods to once again flourish from Silicon Valley to the Pacific Ocean. For redwood forests to thrive in the Santa Cruz Mountain range, we must establish a large, interconnected, and protected network of healthy trees and streams, stretching across public and private lands. We will have succeeded when these forests are:
- Wild, and able to support diverse and ecologically rich populations of native plants and animals
- Resilient, and able to endure in the face of a climate crisis and wildfire risks
- Thriving, forming the critical natural infrastructure that captures carbon, filters air, improves water quality and quantity, reduces erosion, and minimizes flooding
- Treasured, and safe and welcoming to explore by all people.
It is critical that the region’s natural features such as watersheds and redwood forests remain intact and are well cared for, regardless of who owns the land. We are pursuing enduring protection for thousands of precious remaining acres of redwood forests in the Santa Cruz mountains, implementing land management practices that support the emergence of a new generation of magnificent old-growth redwoods, and ensuring our redwood forests are welcoming and accessible to all.
What's at stake?
Without wild, resilient, and healthy redwoods, we stand to lose essential habitat, our air and water are at risk, and our region will suffer more severe consequences from climate change. We will also lose places where people can go to experience the wonder and inspiration these forests can provide.
The lands we protect are strategically identified for their ecological and conservation values, including the size and quality of their redwood groves, the range of native plants and animals, the quality of their waterways, and proximity to existing protected areas. And many of these lands serve as habitat corridors for wildlife like pumas, bobcats, and deer, or nesting habitats for marbled murrelets. Learn more about the science of redwoods.
Why now?
Despite extraordinary efforts to preserve redwood forests over the last century, development pressures, fragmented wilderness, and an accelerating climate crisis are putting immense pressure on our existing redwoods forests to thrive. With less than half of the existing redwoods in the region permanently protected, we have to work urgently to protect what remains.
As redwood-forested properties become available on the real estate market, we work quickly to protect them to ensure they will never be developed, degraded, or destroyed. The ways we do this are powerful and permanent. We purchase property directly, or partner with landowners to secure a conservation easement for their property, thereby ensuring the natural resources are protected, always. Learn more about how we work.
and MATCHED up to $50,000.
