The Ojai Youth Council designed and began installing a native plant garden at Ojai Valley School, planting 130 natives and starting a rain garden with guidance from Watershed Progressive. The space will grow into an outdoor classroom, with summer mulching, irrigation, and fall community planting days planned to support its long-term success.

The Thousand Oaks Youth Council supported a restoration project at Wildwood Regional Park, learning about seasonal wetlands and removing invasive species with guidance from COSCA’s Anna Huber. Their teamwork created space for native plants and wildlife to thrive, showing how youth can make a lasting impact on local ecosystems.

The Oxnard Youth Council completed a sheet mulching project at Oxnard High School, transforming the land with cardboard, compost, and mulch to create healthy soil for a future native plant garden. Despite busy end-of-year schedules, the students’ dedication, supported by teachers and school staff, demonstrated the power of youth-led action in creating lasting community change.

In Fall 2024, the Ojai Youth Council collaborated with students, volunteers, and community partners to install their largest native plant garden yet at Nordhoff High School, planting 273 pollinator-friendly natives across the hillside.

In Fall 2024, the Thousand Oaks Youth Council partnered with Rain Barrel International to design and paint seven rain barrels—selling five and donating two to local school gardens—ultimately creating a project that conserves up to 9,100 gallons of water annually.

In Fall 2024, the Oxnard Youth Council designed and installed a 65-plant native garden at the Nyeland Acres Boys and Girls Club, engaging local youth, advocating to save sycamore trees, and committing to care for the new habitat in the years ahead.

In Spring 2024, the Ojai Youth Council designed pollinator and rain gardens at Nordhoff schools to address sustainability, biodiversity, and campus beautification, collaborating with staff on plans that will be brought to life through community planting events in Fall 2024.

In Fall 2023, the Ojai Youth Council partnered with local organizations to install owl boxes and a raptor perch at Nordhoff High, release rehabilitated barn owls, raise community awareness about rodenticides, gather 60 resident pledges, and help restore habitat by planting over 800 native plants and trees in the Ojai Valley.

In Spring 2023, the Ojai Youth Council created a demonstration garden at MESA that serves as both a critter corridor and sensory space, planting 250 native species with volunteer support and installing drip irrigation to ensure the garden’s long-term success.

In Fall 2022, the Ojai Youth Council partnered with UC professors and Ventura Land Trust to remove over 55 lbs of invasive smilo grass from Big Rock Preserve, helping restore biodiversity to the landscape.

In Spring 2022, the Ojai Youth Council partnered with Watershed Progressive to launch the Pollinator Corridor, planting 4 community gardens, 50 home gardens, and 653 native plants to support declining pollinator populations essential to food crops and ecosystems.

In Fall 2021, the first Ojai Youth Council partnered with Ojai Trees to plant 50 native oak trees in the Ojai Valley, enhancing watershed health, reducing erosion and temperatures, and providing vital habitat for birds and pollinators.