Friends of Urban Nature Week

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Making Southern California coastal waters and watersheds, including Santa Monica Bay, safe, healthy and clean.

Not so long ago, at a time when Santa Monica Bay was treated daily as a dump site, a small group of concerned people took it upon themselves to heal this troubled part of the world. They did it for those who simply wanted to swim, fish or surf safely in clean water. And they did it for the marine life that was suffering from some of the highest levels of contamination found anywhere along our nation's coastline.

We're helping nature heal our cities.

TreePeople is a nonprofit organization that has been serving the Los Angeles area for over three decades. Simply put, our work is about helping nature heal our cities. We offer sustainable solutions to urban ecosystem problems, focusing on three areas:

1. Training and supporting communities to plant and care for trees
2. Educating school children and adults about the environment
3. Working with government agencies on critical water issues

With over 4,210 acres of both natural chapparal-covered terrain and landscaped parkland and picnic areas, Griffith Park is the largest municipal park with urban wilderness area in the United States. Situated in the eastern Santa Monica Mountain range, the Park’s elevations range from 384 to 1,625 feet above see level. With an arid climate, the Park’s plant communities vary from coastal sage scrub, oak and walnut woodlands to riparian vegetation with trees in the Park’s deep canyons. The California native plants represented in Griffith Park include the California species of oak, walnut, lilac, mountain mahagony, sages, toyon, and sumac. Present, in small quantities, are the threatened species of manzanita and berberis.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution established in 1919 by Henry E. and Arabella Huntington. Henry Huntington, a key figure in the development of Southern California in the early 20th century, was also an active collector of rare books and manuscripts, art, and plants. By the time he established the institution, he and his wife had amassed an extensive collection focusing on British and American history, literature, and art, as well as rare and spectacular plant specimens.

By encouraging and supporting a garden in every school, we create opportunities for our children to discover fresh food, make healthier food choices, and become better nourished.
Gardens offer dynamic, beautiful settings in which to integrate every discipline, including science, math, reading, environmental studies, nutrition, and health. Such interdisciplinary approaches cultivate the talents and skills of all students while enriching the students' capacities of observation and thinking.
Young people can experience deeper understanding of natural systems and become better stewards of the Earth by designing, cultivating, and harvesting school gardens with their own hands.
School garden projects nurture community spirit, common purpose, and cultural appreciation by building bridges among students, school staff, families, local business, and organizations.