Palos Verdes plans wildlife refuge
Conservationists are aiming to carve out nearly 100 acres on the Palos Verdes Peninsula to restore and protect native wildlife by shielding the area from development.
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy and the city of Rancho Palos Verdes are partnering to raise $30 million to create a wildlife corridor across the peninsula.
The campaign, “Go Wild for the Peninsula,” aims to restore natural and coastal lands across the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve and create a 96-acre corridor to protect some of California’s — and the nation’s — most vulnerable species.
Among them are three types of butterfly — Palos Verdes blue, El Segundo blue and monarch — and birds such as the coastal California gnatcatcher.
“We know that the results we are going to achieve by garnering all of this public support are going to help address a lot of what the public is concerned about, which is protecting this natural, open coastal land from development,” said Adrienne Mohan, executive director of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy.
Extensive habitat restoration efforts and wildfire risk mitigation will be needed, Mohan said. One plan is to replace invasive plants that increase wildfire risk, such as mustard weed, with drought-tolerant native plants, including California bush sunflowers. The organization is bringing 300 goats to graze on overgrown invasive weeds, such as fennel, ice plant and other nonnative species.
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy has already raised more than half of its fundraising goal. In 2021, the organization received a $12.6-million grant from the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund Grants — the highest award for the year nationwide. California’s Wildlife Conservation Board chipped in an additional $4.8 million, the city of Rancho Palos Verdes added $1.3 million, and the L.A. County Regional Park and Open Space District donated $1 million, bringing the total raised so far to $19.7 million.
Mohan called the grants and donations “an alignment in the stars” and said the group will rely on public and private donors to contribute the remaining $10.3 million.
In a statement, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates) said he’s gratified to see how the project is helping California achieve its “30 by 30" initiative, an executive order signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2020 that aims to conserve 30% of natural land and coastal waters by 2030.
“The partnership between nonprofits, local government and resource agencies are all working together to achieve environmental wins that will benefit everyone,” Muratsuchi said.