Why Urban Land Conservation?

The San Gabriel Mountains are a healthy and fully functioning natural landscape, unlike the San Rafael Hills, Verdugo Mountains and Griffith Park. These landscapes have become islands of native habitat that need to be reconnected with the San Gabriels if they are to sustain healthy and diverse natural populations of wildlife and native plants.

The need for biodiversity in our urban area is real. Communities of natural flora and fauna suffer without sufficient access to open space. Wildlife are stranded in isolated islands of natural habitat resulting in genetic inbreeding that weakens the species and ultimately leads to local extinction. What’s more, traditional land use policies and practices negatively affect the ability of ecosystems to absorb carbon. This puts further stress on habitat islands.

Wildlife corridors connect habitat islands.

Wildlife corridors provide passageways suitable for the movement and dispersal of wildlife, including mammals, birds, butterflies, insects, and native plants.

AFC is working to connect these islands with corridors that invite wildlife to pass freely from one area to another, and allow these urban habitats to adapt to climate change.