The Nature Conservancy in CA

Today is Endangered Species Day! First introduced by the National Wildlife Federation, Endangered Species Day is an opportunity to reflect on the importance of conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. In California, we’re working across more than half a million acres of land to ensure that imperiled species have habitat to thrive. Scroll through to learn more about some of the endangered species we’re helping to protect across California 💚

Wishing all moms and mother figures a Happy Mother's Day! Check out some fun footage of animal mothers and their babies from our Randall Preserve, courtesy of Juan Gonzalez and our friends at the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center 🐾 1. American black bear (Ursus americanus) 2. Mountain lion (Puma concolor) 3. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) 4. Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) #MothersDay

Recently, viewers watching the Santa Cruz Island bald eagle nest livestream noticed something was amiss – one of the young eaglet chicks had fallen out of the nest! Viewers were quick to alert the team at the Institute for Wildlife Studies, the non-profit that monitors the bald eagle populations on the Channel Islands. Immediately, Erin Weiner, bald eagle project lead at the institute, headed to the Fraser Point nest, joined by TNC’s Santa Cruz Island Preserve Coordinator, Lauren Tillotson. Once the chick – named Ryder – was located outside the nest and deemed free of injury, Lauren held a ladder steady and helped Erin to reach the top of the nest, where she gently reunited the bird with his family. Thanks to the eagle-eyed 🦅 viewers who noticed Ryder’s tumble, as well as Erin and the team at the Institute for Wildlife Studies for their speedy search and rescue mission! Want to see what these amazing birds are up to? Check out the live wildlife camera at the link in our bio. Images: Institute for Wildlife Studies Fraser Point Bald Eagle Nest 2 Livecam, hosted by Explore.org

Last year, TNC’s North American Fire Team – with assistance from the Dangermond Preserve, TNC Oregon and Santa Barbara County Fire teams – led a prescribed burn at the Jack & Laura Dangermond Preserve to prepare the Cojo Marine Terminal for restoration. The primary objective of the burn was to remove non-native grasses and prepare the site for native plantings. It’s been nearly one year since TNC completed this prescribed burn, and significant changes are already apparent. This highly impacted area was reseeded with 20 different native species this winter and is already on its way back to native habitat. Case in point – the California poppies in the second and third photo, which came roaring back this spring, show us why they’ve been California’s state flower for more than 100 years! Swipe through to see some amazing shots of our restoration efforts ➡️ #DangermondPreserve

Zooming in on some of the visitors to our Dye Creek Preserve pollinator garden 🐝 The Dye Creek Preserve team first planted the garden in 2024 during a staff volunteer day. Since then, the garden has bloomed with beautiful poppies and other native plants that have attracted many native pollinators, including: 🐝 The endangered Crotch’s bumble bee 🦋 Echo azure butterflies 🐝 Yellow-faced bumble bees 🐝 Black-tailed bumble bees Pollinators play an incredibly important role in our environment – at least 75% of all flowering plants on Earth are pollinated by insects and animals, amounting to more than 1,200 food crops and 180,000 different types of plants! By creating pollinator gardens, we can offer bees, butterflies and other pollinators much-needed food, shelter and nest-building materials.

Last week, the TNC California and TNC Caribbean teams celebrated the inauguration of Fundación Puntacana’s (FPC) Marine Innovation Center (CIM), a groundbreaking coral restoration facility in the Dominican Republic that will apply cutting-edge science and technology to coral reef recovery efforts in the Caribbean 🪸 Since 2018, scientists from TNC teams in the Caribbean and California have worked closely with Fundación Puntacana to support the advancement of science-based coral reef conservation and restoration, as well as the advancement of land-based coral nursery programs. By partnering with technologists to design solutions like AI-enabled coral inventory management and batch handling, TNC is helping coral nurseries produce more corals, at lower cost, with data-driven insights to make restoration more effective. CIM features a coral nursery with 32 tanks and additional laboratories that support coral restoration and the reproduction of key reef species. CIM has a 20‑person team of biologists and technicians, working in unison to implement a robust reef monitoring and restoration program in the Dominican Republic. The Center is part of the Dominican Republic Marine Innovation Hub, a collaboration platform that unites Fundación Puntacana, FUNDEMAR and TNC around a shared mission of applied research and scaled reef restoration. “The magnitude and speed of reef loss in the Caribbean demands a new approach to restoration, one that moves beyond small, isolated projects and toward resilient, innovative, and scalable solutions,” said Dr. Rob Brumbaugh, executive director of The Nature Conservancy’s Caribbean Division. “Our partnership with Fundación Puntacana and the creation of the Marine Innovation Center demonstrates what is possible when science, conservation and private sector leadership align around a shared commitment to the ocean. Together, we are showing that large-scale, climate-focused coral restoration can have a real impact today and serve as a model for the Caribbean and beyond.” Learn more about CIM and the exciting work ahead at the link in our bio. Photos 1-3: Courtesy of Fundación Puntacana Photo 4: Courtesy of Jenn Humberstone / TNC

In 2025, TNC's Dangermond Preserve had the privilege of hosting students from The Harvard Graduate School of Design. The students were there to engage deeply with the complex, working landscape of the preserve and imagine landscape architecture projects that respond to the timely challenges of biodiversity conservation, land stewardship, climate resilience and human use. Today, we’re spotlighting “Holding the Fog” by Angel Li, a project focused on Dangermond’s unique oak woodland. Coastal fog provides critical summertime cooling and moisture along the California coast, and research indicates that long‑term declines and increasing variability in fog – combined with warming temperatures – can heighten drought and fire risk for coastal ecosystems, including oak woodlands. “Holding the Fog” envisions the coast live oak as a natural fog-catcher to support habitat resilience – creating a living fire break that retains moisture and strengthens the woodland’s adaptability in a drying climate. Click through to see more of Angel’s project and view the full story map at the link in our bio. Stay tuned as we highlight additional projects from the Preserve over the next few months! #DangermondPreserve

How do fungi drive island regeneration on one of Earth’s most remote atolls? Palmyra Atoll is one of the healthiest, intact atolls on Earth—so ecologically sensitive that visiting researchers freeze their clothes at night to kill invasive species. It shelters hundreds of thousands of seabirds, untouched coral reefs, and the largest crab species in the world. It’s also home to Pisonia grandis, a critical tree species and nesting ground for the massive seabird population. Pisonia trees are the backbone of Palmyra Atoll. Pisonias also support many of the world’s other 598 atolls. However, little is known about Pisonia’s mycorrhizal fungal partners. Our team travelled to the middle of the Pacific to map the diversity of mycorrhizal fungi across the atoll and identify the fungi associated with Pisonia trees. The expedition was led by Charlie K. Cornwallis of @lunduniversity , Stuart A. West of the @oxford_uni , Alex Wegmann of @nature_hi_pal , and SPUN’s Toby Kiers. Our findings, published today in @currentbiology , reveal that fungi are vital to sustaining life in this remote ecosystem. The symbiotic relationship between Pisonia and its ectomycorrhizal partners is so strong that every tree root sampled across Palmyra’s soils contained a species of mycorrhizal fungi called Tomentella. Even the aerial roots of Pisonia were colonized by Tomentella. Read the open-access paper and watch the full short film in our bio. Our research confirms “a hidden dependency at the heart of an entire ecosystem”. Lead author Charlie Cornwallis said, “The health of Palmyra's coral reefs ultimately depends on seabirds, which depend on Pisonia trees for nesting, which depend on fungi. Remove any link in that chain and the whole system could unravel.” The study underscores that conservation isn't just about species you can see. On remote island systems like atolls, if symbiotic partners are lost, replacements can be scarce. Documenting hidden underground fungi is important for preventing ecosystem collapse and supporting restoration. #ProtectTheUnderground #PalmyraAtoll #MycorrhizalFungi

Protecting the Roadless Rule means protecting wildlife. Roads are dangerous for animals. Not only are speeding vehicles a major killer, but roads fragment habitat and cut off migratory routes. Thankfully, the Roadless Rule has protected nearly 60 million acres of wildlife habitat in national forests across the country. But this rule is at risk of being rescinded. The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule, allowing new roadbuilding on nearly 60 million acres of national forest land. Join TNC in speaking up for the Roadless Rule. Photo: Paul Vroom/TNC Photo Contest 2022

Every year, experts around the West safely set intentional fire to reduce severe wildfire risk and support healthy dry forest ecosystems. So, how do fire practitioners manage successful burns, while limiting impacts to the forest and nearby communities? Follow the link in our bio to learn about more everything that goes into conducting a burn. #WesternDryForests #ControlledBurning #PrescribedFire #BeneficialFire

Sea slugs are spectacular tidepool treasures – and our friends at the California Academy of Sciences need your help finding them! For the whole month of May, they are leading a “bioblitz” to find, record and share observations of sea slug species to help fill data gaps and deepen our understanding of the diversity of nudibranchs and their relatives. Participating in the Spring Sea Slug Search is easy and fun – no sea slug expertise required. Learn more about how you can get involved in finding and observing these colorful creatures at the link in our bio!

Happy Earth Day! Today, we celebrate a future where California’s iconic oaks can continue to thrive. Oaks play a vital role in local ecosystems and in removing carbon from the atmosphere, but our oak populations are declining due to habitat conversion and climate change. A UCLA research partnership is taking action to help address the decline. By sequencing the entire genetic code of hundreds of oak trees, UCLA researchers in the have identified those with specific genes that could help trees survive increasing heat and drought. Partnering with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the UCLA research team are testing their genomic findings on the ground, in TNC reserves across California. Work is underway. Acorns with potentially beneficial genes have already been planted in three TNC reserves. 
 In the face of a changing climate, their work offers hope for building oak populations that are better adapted to persist–keeping our ecosystems and atmosphere in a healthier balance. 🔗 Read the full UCLA Newsroom story at the link in our bio. #EarthDay #UCLA #Conservation #Genomics #TheNatureConservancy