Everybody talks about sustainable development, but how do you really achieve it? You have to start from an understanding of the local ecosystem, to know what it can and cannot actually sustain. This is the rationale behind the programs offered by the Palo Alto-based Foundation for Global Community. Through regional land use initiatives, workshops, and seminars, the group enhances public awareness of the Bay Area bioregion. Its newest series of outings and lectures, called “A Sense of Place,” offers both evening meetings and monthly walks with naturalists to foster a deeper connection to the natural world of the Peninsula. “A Sense of Place” teaches participants to observe seasonal cycles and discover the relationships among flora, fauna, geology, and climate. The course also examines the impact of introduced nonnative species (including humans) to local ecosystems and investigates possibilities for habitat restoration. For more details, contact the Foundation at (650) 328-7756 or visit exploringsenseofplace.org/.
Here’s another great opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the nature of our bioregion: join San Francisco State professor and Bay Nature contributor Michael Vasey for a six-day course called “Conserving Biodiversity in the San Francisco Bay Estuary,” offered through SFSU’s Romberg Tiburon Center (college credit available). The course stresses “paddles-on” learning, with canoe field trips to the Delta, Suisun Marsh, the North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Combined with introductory and follow-up lectures, these extensive outings explore the nature, culture, and political issues of the estuary and its subregions. The class runs from August 21 through 26. Sign up through the Tiburon Center or contact Jason Morris at Save the Bay (510) 452-9261.
