Conservation

The Conservation Program at San Diego Bird Alliance focuses on protecting endangered species and the places that they rely on. This includes habitat management (including coastal dune and salt marsh restoration), supporting species recovery with community science programs, participating in conservation planning and environmental advocacy projects, and creating opportunities for the public to learn about, engage with, and actively protect wildlife.

San Diego is one of the most biodiverse counties in the United States. Its mild Mediterranean climate and varied topography create a number of distinct habitats, including beaches, salt marshes and lagoons, coastal sage scrub, grasslands, chaparral, oak woodlands, riparian, mixed conifer forests, freshwater marshes and meadows, vernal pools, and desert. This biodiversity extends to birds, with some people dubbing San Diego as one of America’s “Birdiest” counties. With all of this biodiversity, our county has been described by scientists as a conservation “hotspot” because of the large number of threatened and endangered species that reside here. 

The current work of the conservation program includes three main projects: ReWild Mission Bay, adaptive management of coastal dune habitat (in protection of California Least Tern nesting sites and space for an endangered coastal dune plant, the Nuttall’s Lotus), and advocacy work.

Other current conservation projects include coastal sage scrub restoration in South San Diego Bay (find out about upcoming work events here), upland restoration work at the Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve/Northern Wildlife Preserve, and high tide monitoring counts of the endangered Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail (formerly Light-footed Clapper Rail) at multiple locations.