Our Story

OC Habitats (OCH) was founded in July 2017 based on the clear need for more habitat protection throughout Orange County, CA. OCH was created with three goals in mind which are now the main areas or pillars of our work: Restoration, Education, and Monitoring.

 

​

Education

Our most important goal of OCH is education and outreach. We believe that knowledge is power, and the more individuals we can empower, the better off our environment will be. We educate through our habitat education programs that we provide to school-aged students and the public in and around Orange County, as well as on our guided hikes and habitat tour events. We also educate our volunteers during our restoration and monitoring projects/programs. Our online educational resources, including our Coffee & Conservation speaker series, have grown into thorough resources on local habitats, species, and environmental issues for public use. In all our work we seek to build awareness and environmental stewardship in our community.

 

Restoration 

First, our founders saw an urgent need to aid the restoration of degraded habitats throughout the county. Over the years, we have helped restore wetlands and riparian habitats in Huntington and Newport Beaches as well as coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitats in Santa Ana, Irvine, Tustin and Orange. We continue to expand our efforts to more areas and habitat types to provide a wide-reaching service to the human and non-human communities of OC.

 

Monitoring

Lastly, our founders felt that sensitive areas in Orange County needed more monitoring attention. OCH has partnered with various nonprofit and government agencies to collect data on the current state of specific habitats and species. This data is shared with key players in habitat protection to inform future actions and maintain healthy habitat and species populations for years to come.

 

​​

​

All three of these goals come together to make OC Habitats.

Through our local, grassroots work, we strive to make the world better one person and event at a time.

If our mission speaks to your heart, join us!