photo by Canopy Dynamics.
Explore What Forests Protect
Clean Air
Healthy redwood forests store carbon, produce oxygen, and help keep our air clean and our climate stable.
Clean air begins in healthy forests. Redwood forests help clean and cool the air by storing carbon, producing oxygen, and supporting complex ecosystems that keep forests healthy and growing. Coast redwoods are some of the most effective trees in the world at capturing and storing carbon, making these forests powerful allies in the fight against climate change.
But these forests only continue doing this work if they remain healthy, connected, and protected from development. Through land protection, forest stewardship, and restoration work, Sempervirens Fund helps ensure redwood forests remain strong and resilient so they can continue protecting the air we all share.
When you help protect redwood forests you are protecting clean air for our communities and our planet.
Clean Water
Forests capture, store, and filter water, protecting watersheds, streams, and drinking water for communities and wildlife.
Water flows through every part of the redwood forest ecosystem. Redwood forests capture water from rain and the fog drifting in from the Pacific Ocean. These forests store water in their soils and slowly release it into creeks and rivers throughout the year, helping to maintain healthy streams and reliable water supplies for wildlife and the surrounding communities. Forest roots hold soil in place, reducing erosion and preventing sediment from entering waterways. Shaded streams stay cooler, creating healthy habitat for fish and other wildlife.
When forests are protected and cared for, these natural water systems stay strong and resilient. Through land protection and forest stewardship, Sempervirens Fund helps protect watersheds throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains so these forests can continue providing clean, reliable water.
Protecting forests helps protect the water that flows through our communities and ecosystems.
Resilient Landscapes
Resilient redwood forests can better withstand wildfire, recover more quickly after fire, and help protect nearby communities.
Resilient landscapes begin with forests that are cared for and managed carefully. Sempervirens Fund works with partners to reduce fuel loads, restore damaged landscapes, and help forests recover after wildfire. This work strengthens the landscape as a whole and helps ensure these forests can continue growing for generations to come. Forest resilience means preparing forests for wildfire, helping them recover after fire, and making sure these landscapes stay healthy and connected.
When you help protect and care for forests, you help make both the forest and community more resilient to future wildfires.
Wildlife Habitat
Protected and connected forests provide homes and safe movement corridors for wildlife across the landscape.
Redwood forests are home to an incredible variety of wildlife. From birds and amphibians to mountain lions and endangered species, the Santa Cruz Mountains are home to unique and rare wildlife. Large, connected landscapes allow wildlife to move, find food, water, shelter, and better adapt to changing conditions. When forests are fragmented or developed, wildlife lose habitat and the ecosystems that support them become less resilient. By protecting land and connecting forest landscapes, Sempervirens Fund helps create and maintain habitat where wildlife can live, move safely, and thrive.
Protecting forests means protecting homes for wildlife.
Recreation for Future Generations
Permanent land protection ensures redwood forests will remain wild, thriving, and provide recreation opportunities for generations to come.
One of the most important things we can do today is protect forests for future generations. Like Big Basin Redwoods State Park, once protected by your fellow supporters more than 125 years ago, future generations will be able to walk beneath these trees and experience the peace and wonder of redwood forests. Land protection today ensures the hikers, bikers, climbers, and artists of tomorrow can find a path and peace beneath the redwoods too. Sempervirens Fund works to permanently protect redwood forests and expand parks in the Santa Cruz Mountains for future generations to connect with and enjoy.
Protecting forests today means protecting the parks and recreation opportunities forever.
Forests Protect Many Things
Forests protect clean air and water.
They protect wildlife and resilient landscapes.
They protect places for people to explore, reflect, and connect with nature.
They protect forests for our future generations.
When we protect forests, we are protecting everything forests make possible. And because of supporters like you, this work continues. Together we are protecting redwood forests and all they make possible.
