08/21/2026
Join Channel Islands Restoration and Santa Barbara Botanic Garden for a hands-on morning of habitat restoration at Elings Park!
For the past three years, we’ve been working with Elings Park and Santa Barbara Botanic Garden to transform a one-acre plot into a thriving California-native habitat for plants and wildlife. This long-term restoration project will ultimately include approximately 1,400 native plants, creating valuable habitat while tracking changes in plant and animal diversity over time.
This project is about more than planting native species—it’s about creating a functioning habitat where native plants can thrive and provide food and shelter for insects, birds, and other wildlife. With each phase of restoration, we’re helping turn a former landscape into a healthier, more diverse ecosystem.
For this volunteer day, we’ll focus on weeding and mulching around the planting area. Volunteers will help remove unwanted vegetation and spread mulch around native plants to protect the soil, conserve moisture, suppress weeds, and give the developing habitat a boost.
Along the way, volunteers will also have the opportunity to learn directly from habitat restoration experts, botanists, and restoration professionals about native plants, habitat creation, invasive species management, and the ecological processes that help native habitats recover. It’s a chance to get your hands dirty while gaining a deeper understanding of how restoration works.
No experience is necessary—just bring your enthusiasm for learning, working outdoors, and helping create habitat for native plants and wildlife!
Working together, we’re transforming a former landscape into a vibrant California-native habitat—one plant, one wheelbarrow of mulch, and one volunteer at a time.
Come learn, get your hands dirty, and help us create habitat!
Register at: https://cirweb.org/calendar/elings-park-mulching-sept
