From the Director (winter 2024)

This year OVLC celebrates 25 years of work at the Ojai Meadows Preserve! With the dedicated help of hundreds, “the Meadows” has become a jewel of a nature preserve. From those with the foresight to protect the ground, to those who planned the restoration, agency and community funders, the restoration leaders, field crews, and volunteers, it is safe to say that “it took a village” to create a haven in the middle of our community. It is also safe to say that saving and restoring the Meadows spurred OVLC into the organization that it has grown into today. 

Since 1934 when Aldo Leopold first identified the concept of “ecosystem services,” ecologists and conservationists have been striving for an immediately recognizable term that would capture all of the societal benefits from conservation. More recently, the lexicon for the beneficial services from nature have gone through many permutations. From flood control and water purification to carbon sequestration and climate regulation, each of these ecosystem services represents a value to invest in…or fail to at
our peril.

 All of these heady concepts have real bearing to OVLC’s efforts at the Ojai Meadows Preserve. After acquisition, OVLC set about restoring the former wetlands and the ecosystem services they provide. A newer term, “nature-based solutions” has emerged to capture the role of nature in mitigating climate change. Government agencies and foundations are now recognizing that nature-based solutions are cost effective and sustainable. As long time Valley residents can attest, this was certainly true at the Meadows.

 What might have been a mixed-use mall with additional impervious surfaces like pavement and rooftops is now a restored wetland habitat that reduces the threat of flooding along Maricopa Highway. The wetlands attenuate the high floodwaters and provide habitat for ducks, herons, and egrets. The native oaks currently being restored will offer shade and their roots will provide channels through Ojai’s clay soils to enhance groundwater recharge. Additionally, these oaks will support a host of native insects that in turn support birds and the rest of our ecosystem.

So, while the preservation and restoration of the Meadows should be celebrated (as we are in this issue), rest assured that OVLC’s restoration work continues at the Meadows and throughout the Valley. These nature-based solutions will continue to provide ecosystem services as a vital part of the Valley’s natural capital for generations to come.

Tom Maloney, Executive Director