How Land Trusts Protect California's Special Places with Mark Bibbo

Saturday, November 7 | 5pm to 6:30pm

Land trusts across California share a common mission of protecting the lands and natural resources that make their regions special. But how they go about achieving that mission can vary considerably depending on local landscapes, conservation priorities, and opportunities. Join Mark Bibbo of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County for a look at how land trusts turn conservation goals into lasting protection. Using examples from Santa Cruz County, Mark will explore the strategies, partnerships, and tools that land trusts use to protect important habitats for native plants, wildlife, and people. Along the way, we'll take a photographic tour of some of Santa Cruz County's remarkable, protected landscapes, including the Glenwood Preserve, the San Vicente Redwoods, and more than 600 acres of rare Santa Cruz Sandhills habitat. It's a chance to explore a different corner of California, discover its botanical treasures, and see how a shared conservation mission takes shape on the ground.

FRLT staff will also be in attendance to answer questions about FRLT's work locally.

About the Speaker: Mark Bibbo

Mark Bibbo earned his master’s degree in plant ecology from U.C. Davis and began his botany career conducting vegetation surveys in the Sierra Nevada foothill and montane zones. As a professional botanist, restoration ecologist, and project manager, he has over 25 years of experience working in the fields of plant ecology, restoration ecology, and agriculture throughout California. Since 2003, his specialties in botany and plant ecology have included vegetation classification and mapping, floristic inventories, rare plant surveying, wetland delineation, invasive plant species mapping and monitoring, restoration implementation oversight and monitoring, and land management. Working in the private and public sectors, he has surveyed and worked on lands throughout California, in nearly every eco-region in the state, with the San Francisco Bay, Central Coast, Sacramento Valley/Delta, and Sierra Nevada regions being the focus of my work. Mark currently works at the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County bringing conservation projects, largely focused in Santa Cruz County to fruition.