Watsonville Wetlands Watch (WWW) is dedicated to preserving, restoring and fostering appreciation of the wetlands of the Pajaro Valley.
WWW worked with the Pajaro Middle School (PMS) community to develop a Climate Resilient School Campus design to welcome PMS students back to their campus, which was closed due to flooding in spring of 2023. This green, climate resilient schoolyard will protect the health, well-being, and improve the educational environment for PMS students, who are surrounded by agriculture and industrial land uses that impact on-campus air quality and are vulnerable to increasing temperatures and extreme heat. The school tree canopy percent cover is currently 5.5%, well under the goal of 30% for a healthy school campus. WWW will implement the design with the support of paid high school interns and community volunteers, including tree plantings and tree canopy expansion, rain gardens, a school orchard and food gardens, and other features that increase accessibility to nature on the school campus and support social and emotional health and academic achievement.
Engaging in community restoration work, with a specific focus on restoring native species and growing Watsonville's tree shade canopy, has allowed me to directly impact my community and contributed to my sense of belonging. This hands-on experience in community restoration and sustainability initiatives has given me a special insight into the power of local actions in fostering broader environmental equity.
- Ruby Romero-Maya
