We’ve Planted More Than 3,000 Trees and Plants in Three Years!
During a break between the showers that pummeled the Bay Area in early January, Save Mount Diablo’s staff gathered at our Marsh Creek 1 and 7 properties.
There, we planted the final 130 plants needed to surpass 3,000 plants towards our goal of planting and protecting 10,000 trees and plants in 10 years.
Through this team outing, we got our hands dirty and completed a major milestone in this massive undertaking.
Save Mount Diablo staff plant natives at Marsh Creek 7. Photo by Mary Nagle
Our 10,000 Trees and Plants project was created in tandem with Save Mount Diablo’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) that describes what our organization will do to help address the climate crisis.
As part of our CAP, our stewardship strategy is to “manage natural lands to mitigate the effects of climate change and enhance the resilience of natural and human communities.”
These native plants absorb carbon from the atmosphere and store it through a process called carbon sequestration, an essential nature-based solution to climate change.
Our team planting day was the final of a few dozen outings over the year that helped us reach our goal for the third year of the project.
Students planting natives. Photo by Al Johnson.
But we didn’t stop there. Throughout February, we held multiple planting days where volunteers and staff put hundreds more native plants into the ground. To date, we’ve planted and protected more than 3,500 native plants!
Our 10,000 Trees and Plants project is increasing healthy habitat coverage on Mount Diablo, leveraging the power of native plants to promote biodiversity.
As part of the project, in recent years, we’ve established new pollinator gardens at our Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve, Curry Canyon Ranch, and Marsh Creek 1 and 7 properties, two contiguous parcels bisected by Marsh Creek.
Volunteers plant acorns that will grow to become oak trees in Irish Canyon. Photo by Haley Sutton
In this drought-ridden region, water sources are becoming extremely important. Establishing native restoration plantings in these areas supports the local wildlife that travels along Mount Diablo’s waterways.
Meanwhile, the native bunchgrasses, shrubs, and trees we plant in these gardens and restoration sites will function as carbon sinks, absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere than is released.
We’re doing our part to turn the tide against climate change, one plant at a time.
We have reached each yearly milestone with the continued support of our Diablo Restoration Team (DiRT), summer water crew, and student and corporate groups.
By inviting our community of volunteers to join the effort, we’re growing people’s love for nature through meaningful and educational environmental service projects.
When volunteers of all ages join our stewardship programs, they receive a hands-on and informative experience, and leave with a growing desire to protect and care for the land.
There is still much more to do! To get involved, please join our Diablo Restoration Team days. Sign up at savemountdiablo.org/dirt!
Photo by Haley Sutton
