Advocacy

From neighborhoods to City Hall, we educate and empower city residents to protect our environment.

Campaigns

Protect Palou Phelps Park & Open Space

Nature in the City and Friends of Palou Phelps seeks to protect Palou Phelps Park in San Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood from urban development. Read Jessica Wolfram’s SF Examiner article here. Learn more about current advocacy outreach from Friends of Palou Phelps here.

As an advocate for parks and open spaces across San Francisco, we work to conserve and create habitats for insects, birds, amphibians, mammals, and more. Nature in the City gives voice at City Hall to non-human residents and plant life. As grassroots organizers, we're proud to be one of the leading advocates that helped the City to approve the City's Natural Resources Management Plan and the newly designed Francisco Park

The Climate Action Plan

San Francisco released an updated Climate Action Plan in 2021. Nature in the City and its coalition partners advocated to ensure that Healthy Ecosystem Strategies and local nature-based climate solutions remained an essential element of the plan. We are advocating for the plan to be fully funded and implemented.

The San Francisco Department of the Environment (SFE) is tasked with implementing the Climate Action Plan, and the Commission on the Environment approves the department's budget request to the City.

In June 2022, after an intense advocacy campaign by NTC and partners, the Board of Supervisors added back $2.6 million into the Mayor's budget for the plan's implementation. While this falls short of full funding for the plan, it is progress. NTC will partner with the Department of the Environment to propel two components of the plan goals: restoring healthy natural ecosystems and fostering a Climate Careers Corps.  

Throughout 2021, we worked to deepen our holistic understanding of the climate emergencies San Francisco will face; NTC and other SF Healthy Ecosystems Coalition members strategized with SF Climate Emergency Coalition for full implementation of the plan. 

With the plan nearing finalization, we lobbied Mayor Breed and the San Francisco Dept. of the Environment on climate change mitigation strategies with a particular emphasis on restoring healthy natural ecosystems and a new green jobs program (see Climate Career Corps excellent news!). As NTC is the only organization in the city maintaining public spaces rich in biodiversity, we lobbied on behalf of the Green Hairstreak Corridor and Palou Phelps Open Space. These sites are vulnerable; they’re subject to erosion, vandalism, and damage caused by City work to repair sewer lines. While repairs are necessary, they harm plants and undo work carried out by staff and volunteers. As the City has minimal funding to maintain these sites, NTC has taken responsibility for them over the long term.

As of December 2022, the Climate Action Plan advisory committee is coalescing around these funding measures:
- A dedicated $300-500 million general obligation bond for climate action focused on building decarbonization and incorporating climate action in other planned bonds for housing and transportation. The Board of Supervisors recently passed a resolution urging the inclusion of a climate bond in the planned bond schedule and will hold a hearing on funding the Climate Action Plan in the new year.
- Parcel tax focused on habitat and biodiversity. The advisory committee advocates for centering equity and wants to mitigate the potentially regressive nature of a parcel tax.
- Public green bank (in development by an affiliated working group) to support environmental initiatives. 

May 2023: After two years of allocating $0 towards implementation of the City’s much-touted Climate Action Plan (CAP), at the end of May, the mayor guaranteed that crucial recent hires in the SF Environment Department (SFE) can keep their jobs and continue the work executing many strategies outlined in the CAP - as well as applying for federal and state grants, leveraging millions more in emissions-reduction support. 

Long-term nonprofit leaders, our partners, working on conservation, environmental stewardship, community engagement, and nature education include Literacy for Environmental Justice, Wildfires to Wildflowers, Golden Gate Audubon Society, Climate Action Now!, California Native Plant Society Yerba Buena Chapter, Sutro Stewards

BART/MUNI Canopy Living Roofs

BART plans to install 21 canopy entrances over escalators along San Francisco’s civic spine. In the process, BART plans to remove a large number of trees. Construction is complete for two pilot canopies. In 2021, BART invited Nature in the City to design living roof habitats for the station canopies. Once installed, the roofs will each provide 650 square feet of elevated habitat and become a significant project component. Living roofs would add nectar for Western Tiger Swallowtail butterflies and habitat for many wildlife-seeking native plant oases in downtown San Francisco. 

Green Hairstreak Corridor 

Nature in the City’s longest-standing neighborhood habitat restoration project, the Green Hairstreak Corridor, was established in 2008. This project enjoys volunteer support from neighbors, students, and the public and receives funding from local organizations, NTC members & donors. The project spans public parks, medians, stairway edges, and private gardens — making for complex management strategies. Erosion from falling sand and utility work can threaten habitats, and Nature in the City communicates with our City of SF partners to ensure this project endures for years to come and any damages to the work we’ve completed are repaired.

Past Campaigns

Climate Action Plan Funding

December 2022: campaign launched to seek support from the Board of Supervisors for these recommendations:

  • A dedicated $300-500 million General Obligation bond for building decarbonization, to fund efficiency and electrification retrofits for existing residential buildings;

  • Increasing the size of the upcoming affordable housing GO bond by $50-100 million to fund the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund for CAP-aligned housing investment;

  • A dedicated $300-500 million transportation GO Bond to fund public transit, active transportation, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure

More information here.

Green Hairstreak Habitat in Peril, Can You Help?

Nature in the City (NTC), on behalf of our members, volunteers, supporters, and staff, wish to bring to your attention our habitat restoration work in the Golden Gate Heights neighborhood, the Green Hairstreak Corridor. Since 2007, we together have created an urban wildlife corridor for the green hairstreak butterfly (and so many more) and have saved it from local extinction! Now, we have a new threat to its survival on our hands. The richest habitat site in the Corridor is a large stairway garden at 15th Avenue and Quintara Street. Over the last few years, a sinkhole has developed, pulling down sand and plants. After 1.5 years of advocacy, we have now heard from SFPUC that their crew plans to repair the sewage line, and in the process, much of our work will be destroyed. We have asked SFPUC if there are mitigation funds to help us rescue plants, stabilize steep sandy soils, replant, water during the drought, and repair overall site damages—they have let us know that no such funds exist. 

In District 5, where Nature in the City cares for another public jewel of a garden, Adah’s Stairway, SFPUC repaired a sinkhole in 2019, and the damage to this site was massive. We were able to utilize City funds from the San Francisco Carbon Fund grant to replant at Adah’s Stairway with volunteer labor, at a cost to the City of $17,000 for plants alone. We have seen the damage that comes with sewage system repairs and seek your help in mitigating the effects at the 15th and Quintara GHC site.

We are appealing to you, as a San Francisco resident, to advocate for this diverse garden that over the last 13 years, has benefitted from approximately 2,500 volunteer hours and 1,500 plants. At the current volunteer rate of $28.54 per hour and plants costing $10 each, this habitat site is worth $86,530 to the City and its residents, not to mention the ecosystem services it provides, such as: erosion control, beautification, pollination, water filtration, carbon sequestration, and as a biodiverse ecosystem, it is home to thousands of tiny plants and animals. 

Together, let’s rescue, stabilize, replant, water, and repair as much of this site as possible to its current state during July and August, the only time that SFPUC has let us know they can make these repairs. 

Here’s how you can help:

  1. Contact Supervisor Melgar to express your support for Green Hairstreak Corridor site repairs, and sign the petition

  2. Contribute whatever amount you can at Join or Give to help Nature in the City restore the site

Did you know that more than 850 distinct species thrive in this neighborhood due in large part to our work? If it weren’t for our combined efforts, this butterfly would likely have become extinct here in Golden Gate Heights. Together, let’s rescue and restore as much of this site as possible during July and August, the only time that SFPUC has let us know they can make these repairs. Thanks for all your support! 

Seeking Public Comment for San Francisco’s Climate Action Plan.

San Francisco is facing pressure to adapt to a changing climate and needs to accommodate rising sea levels, increased flood risk, and higher temperatures. Nature in the City is calling upon the City and the Board of Supervisors to commit to tracking progress on the Biodiversity Resolution and California’s 30x30 commitment via the Climate Action Plan (CAP) proposed by the San Francisco Dept. of the Environment.

The Biodiversity Resolution is an international effort to maintain biodiversity and create resilience against climate change, recognized in an Executive Order signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2020.

Research shows that communities of color are three times more likely than white communities to live in nature-deprived areas and that 70% of low-income communities in the U.S. live in nature-deprived areas. Alarmingly, Black, Latino, Indigenous, and Asian people often encounter hostility or threats when simply trying to enjoy time outdoors. Maintaining, stewarding, and expanding safe urban green space is vital for our whole community. 

NTC and other local nonprofits have formed an urban nature coalition, and we plan to closely follow the City’s responses to our feedback and that of the general public. Just a few of our recommendations:

  • Comprehensive approach to carbon sequestration that addresses biodiversity and habitats ranging from hilltop grasslands, marshes, and wetlands, to the urban canopy

  • A mandate that City agencies collaborate to achieve targeted goals to restore native biodiversity on public lands

  • Funding for environmental job development programs, especially for youth of color and economically disadvantaged youth

  • Financial incentives for residents to plant native plants in their gardens

  • Substantive support for community-based stewardship through partnership with nonprofits such as NTC, which currently provides free habitat restoration and conservation programs city-wide

  • A strong network of native plant nurseries, serving city agencies, for planting in public spaces 

San Francisco Department of the Environment, which oversees the Climate Action Plan does not have funding for staff to oversee its implementation. Because the Plan is a huge endeavor and its strategies and actions span many industries, departments, agencies, and nonprofits, leadership is needed from the Board of Supervisors (BOS) and Mayor Breed.

The coalition is requesting a hearing to convene experts and learn what’s necessary for full funding and implementation of the CAP. The coalition includes Literacy for Environmental Justice, California Native Plant Society Yerba Buena Chapter, Golden Gate Audubon, Climate Emergency Coalition, Earth Justice, The Climate Reality Projects, and SEIU /1021. The BOS is finalizing its budget in June and we are pushing for allocation of funds for urgently needed equitable climate action. We request that at least 1% of the City's budget be allocated to rapidly and equitably addressing the climate emergency, with immediate priorities to include building electrification retrofits and weatherization, investing in zero-carbon micro-mobility options for low and moderate-income residents, and climate equity grants.

To learn more about our detailed responses to the Climate Action Plan, email info@natureinthecity.org