The River Partners organization is MJV’s newest partner. This organization has been making an impact in California for 22 years, where they have restored more than 15,000 acres of habitat. River Partners conducts large scale restoration projects on riparian and upland habitats. Their mission is to “bring life back to rivers by creating wildlife habitat for the benefit of people and the environment”.
River Partners has conducted many restoration projects over the last 20 years. Their current project, funded by the Wildlife Conservation Board, includes planting 595 acres of monarch habitat embedded in several restoration projects throughout the state of California. They are working with multiple MJV partners to complete this project, including the Xerces Society and the Environmental Defense Fund. The project team will establish many new populations of native milkweed in association with a variety of native monarch nectar plants, with continued monitoring and support for three to five years to ensure projects establish well.
To increase the public’s interest in their projects and spread awareness, they will have their milkweed plugs grown by high school students who will use the experience to learn about monarch restoration and conservation efforts. They work with researchers to monitor project sites and learn what restoration techniques are the most effective. River Partners emphasizes projects that have multiple benefits for water quality, biodiversity, and more.
As MJV has recently hired staff to work on habitat conservation projects in the California Central Valley, River Partners will be an incredible asset to our network with their extensive history working in this landscape.
For more information on the River Partners, please visit their website at https://www.riverpartners.org/.
The Monarch Joint Venture is a national partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses and academic programs working together to conserve the monarch butterfly migration. The content in this article does not necessarily reflect the positions of all Monarch Joint Venture partners.