Free Nature Walk, Led by Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Followed by Restoration Work Party — January 2024

Free Nature Walk: Soils and Restoration of Elings Park on Saturday, January 13, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. 

Led by the Garden’s Director of Conservation and Research Denise Knapp, Ph.D., and Habitat Restoration Manager Caroline Shepherd.

Join us on the first of the free Nature Walks in 2024 to explore Elings Park’s biodiversity! Each walk has a different natural history focus, including plants, birds, bugs, or their interrelationships in the ecosystem, and is led by experts from the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

The walks are part of a collaborative effort between Elings Park, Botanic Garden, and the public to transform a section of the Park from invasive to native plants and document the effects.

Meet at the parking lot adjacent to the Elings Park administration building by 9 a.m. No reservations are necessary.

This walk is followed by a Restoration Work Party as part of a new project with Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

Volunteers are needed to help restore a one-acre site on Elings Park’s South Bluffs using California-native plants. Restoration Work Parties are held following this Nature Walk and at various other dates and times in coming months.

The restoration project and science experiences concentrate California’s native plants in this area and will compare the abundance, diversity, and composition of plant and animal life both before and after the transformation. The first phase of the project involved installing black plastic and cardboard to discourage weeds, and assembling gopher cages to protect new plantings. Now, the plastic is being removed and a variety of California-native plants are being planted.

Please visit the Elings Park Transformation Project website for more about 2024 activities, and to sign up to volunteer:  https://sbbotanicgarden.org/conservation/our-impact/restoring-habitats/elings-park-transformation/.