Programs & Projects | OC Habitats

Our Work

OC Habitats offers a variety of activities and events (in-person and virtual) to connect with our community and protect our environment. Habitat monitoring, education and outreach, and restoration are the focus of our team efforts.

Find an upcoming event

Check Out Our
Upcoming Events Below!

OC Habitats EventBrite

AllEvents - Event Posts

Restoration Projects

RESTORATION PROJECTS

OC Habitats Restoration Projects are varied from wetland to coastal sage scrub habitats and everything in between. We have worked or are working with the following groups to restore areas around Orange County due to human encroachment, habitats loss, and recent fire damage. We have weeded, planted, watered, and maintained these areas to help protect existing habitats and restore them to their native glory and provide much needed habitat for the variety of species that rely on them. Our goal is to provide one restoration event per month throughout the year. We invite our regular volunteers and any individual who would like to help our efforts to join us.

Current Projects:
Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy
Turtle Rock Nature Center
Newport Back Bay - Project Grow
City of Santa Ana

Past Projects:

OC Parks - Santiago Oaks Regional Park

- Irvine Regional Park

Fairview Park Restoration

Butterfly Garden at Huntington Beach Central Park

Beach Cleanups

RESTORATION WAIVER

Group Events:

Any group larger than 8 participants must sign-up with us directly. If you wish to host a group at one of our restoration events, please contact us via email at staff@ochabitats.org.

Education & Outreach

HABITAT EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Our Habitat Educator Team will come to your school or a nearby natural environment (local park, beach, etc) to teach about the local habitat and use curriculum based information to support in-class standards. We offer programs from kindergarten through high school! Click below to learn more and reserve your Habitat Program Today.

OCH Habitat Education Flyer

HABITAT TOURS AND CLEANUPS

We offer habitat tours for schools, corporations, and small groups. We meet at a specified habitat location, discuss all the aspects of that environment, and do a clean-up as we explore.

Tour Request Form

NATURE CLASSES & PROGRAMS

OCH provides hands-on experiential learning to students and groups, big and small. Our programs include all habitat types within Orange County and topics can vary from vernal pools in Costa Mesa to Mountain Lions in Cleveland National Forest. Our range from 2nd grade through college level.

OCH Nature Classes

Habitat & Species Monitoring

Coastal Habitats Surveys

Coastal Dune Habitat Surveys: Where it all began. OCH trains all monitors to be able to correctly identify all shorebirds on the Orange County Coast. Once trained, our monitors survey over 20 segments of beach each month and share their data with local agencies and nonprofits. Using the combined data of OCH and others, those organizations then work to ensure the protections of these habitats and species.

Sea Urchin Monitoring

In 2022, we partnered with Get Inspired (Nancy Caruso) to begin a sea urchin monitoring project. We started by determining all intertidal zones in Orange County then developed a system of surveys (visual and focused) to determine the population density of purple and red sea urchins in our local ecosystems. Our goal is to see if there is any spillover of urchins in our local kelp forest.