By Eva Christy, SDRPF Intern
The Mission Valley Preserve defies urban expectations. Nestled between buildings and freeways, it hosts vast biodiversity and offers a rare space where both recreation and natural systems thrive. If you walked along the river trail, you would clearly see flourishing native plants, and you might spot one of the 140 bird species that use the habitat. But the thriving river ecosystem also benefits us in invisible ways, by providing disaster resistance and making San Diego more climate resilient.
Left unattended, invasive plants would degrade this habitat, and trash would dominate the landscape. In the past year, the San Diego River Park Foundation (SDRPF) organized events where almost 500 community participants came together to protect and restore this vital river habitat. This work was possible because of a generous Environmental Champions Grant given by San Diego Gas and Electric.
Nature served as a classroom for a very important group of these volunteers: youth. After learning about the river ecosystem, students planted many of the 70 new plants in the Mission Valley Preserve. Hands-on experiences like this connect youth and adults alike with the river and empower them to further protect our natural resources.
Volunteers and interns had the opportunity to directly care for the river with knowledge gained from specialized ecological restoration training provided by the SDRPF, which even included chainsaw workshops. This prepared participants to manage invasive trees including Brazilian Pepper trees, Mexican fan palms, and eucalyptus. With this workforce training under their belts, community members now have the capacity to maintain native habitat and pass along benefits of a healthy river. In particular, seven college interns participating in river restoration work gained extensive knowledge that will allow them to continue this vital work.
Training and education are only the cherry on top of the most important work that the SDRPF facilitates: regular restoration events where invasive species are removed. Invasive species harm the river ecosystem by outcompeting native plants, disrupting food webs, and degrading water quality.
Removing invasive species and restoring native plants is essential because it helps to:
- Decrease fire and flood risk: Native plants soak up water. They resist fire better than fast-growing invasives that literally add fuel to the fire.
- Prevent erosion: Native plants keep soil in place with their deep roots. This prevents pollution and sediment from travelling downstream to the ocean.
- Clean the water: Native plants act as natural filters for pollutants from the surrounding urban area.
- Build ecosystem resilience: Native species enable the ecosystem to continue essential processes like nutrient cycling.
- Provide better quality habitat for native wildlife: Native plants provide the best food and shelter for native animals; they are adapted to live together.
Restoration work is critical in making San Diego clean, beautiful, and climate resilient. The progress made in Mission Valley Preserve, supported by the generosity of SDG&E, is part of a larger effort to remove invasive species in the entire Mission Valley Riverbed. This large-scale effort prevents new invasive seed transmission from one section of the river ecosystem to another and ensures a healthier, more biodiverse watershed for people and wildlife.
If you want to join us in making a difference for the river, we would love to see you at one of our habitat restoration events.
Learn more and sign up here!
Watch a video of Mission Valley habitat restoration efforts here.