California is home for much of the western population of monarchs; conservation and restoration in this state is essential to the survival of western monarchs. The Monarch Joint Venture is excited to partner with Back to Natives Restoration, a nonprofit working to promote monarch conservation across Southern California.
Back to Natives connects the community to habitat restoration through service learning and native plant education. Their mission is "to encourage and actively participate in the restoration and conservation of Orange County and California wildlands, through education and restoration programs featuring native plants and biodiversity as a centralizing theme."
Currently, Back to Natives assists in the recovery of Orange County’s biodiversity through the restoration of open spaces, and the development of habitat gardens. The volunteer run Back to Natives Nursery grows locally native milkweed and other native plants that provide habitat for animals. Environmental education programs at the Nursery educate students and community members about the importance of native plants and biodiversity. Back to Natives serves the growing number of land managers in need of restoration services by facilitating dialogue with the community, promoting awareness of and public support for restoration and restorative management; and, of course, bringing about the recovery of damaged ecosystems through ecological restoration!
Look on our event calendar for educational events and opportunities to get native milkweed, nectar and other plants from Back to Natives. All of their plant sales raise funds for habitat restoration projects in California as well as service learning programs. Back to Natives works with many local high schools and universities, whose students participate in service learning projects to grow locally native plants at their Native Plant Nursery, and restore habitat in local wildlands.
Together, Back to Natives and the Monarch Joint Venture will be able to expand monarch conservation across Orange County and the rest of California. We are excited to partner in assisting land managers, promoting native plant gardening, growing and distributing milkweed, habitat restoration and monitoring, and securing funds for local monarch conservation projects. We look forward to working together!
About Back to Natives
Back to Natives Restoration, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is dedicated to the restoration and conservation of Orange County and California wildlands, through education and restoration programs featuring native plants as a centralizing theme. Back to Natives uses profits from native plant sales to fund service learning and environmental education programs. For more information, please visit www.backtonatives.org or call 949-509-4787.