Santa Lucia Conservancy

Conserving Biodiversity

The Santa Lucia Preserve is situated within one of the world’s great ‘biodiversity hotspots,’ globally recognized as a place of exceptional ecological value. At the intersection of coastal and inland climate gradients, The Preserve is a mosaic of habitats: maritime chaparral and coastal scrub, oak woodlands and coast redwood forests, [...]

Reducing Wildfire Risk

Our vision for fire and fuels management on The Preserve is one that harmoniously balances the protection of life, property, and biodiversity with long-term ecosystem resilience. Our proactive wildfire resilience strategy includes shaded fuel breaks, prescribed burns, conservation grazing, invasive plant removal, a Preserve-wide fuel management plan, and lot-specific fuel [...]

Environmental Education

With a place-based, experiential learning approach, our free Environmental Education Program connects students with nature and promotes ecological literacy, environmental stewardship, and social-emotional learning with field trips that integrate science, natural history, and art. Age-appropriate classes are consistent with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and take an ecosystem-level approach to understanding subjects [...]

Fostering Land Stewardship

The Santa Lucia Preserve was founded upon a bold and unique private land conservation model. Over 90% of the 20,000-acre Santa Lucia Preserve is permanently protected and managed by the Conservancy to maintain ecological values. The remaining 10% is zoned for residential development, supporting a vibrant community of people who [...]

Who is the Conservancy?

The Santa Lucia Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit land trust incorporated in 1995 to conserve the ecological integrity of the protected lands within the Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel, California. We are dedicated to advancing the art and science of conservation-compatible development through adaptive land management, conservation easement stewardship, ecological research and environmental education programs. Learn more here.

What is The Preserve?

The Santa Lucia Preserve is a private residential community where people and nature thrive together. Extraordinary thought and planning went into the design of this unique community, with the goal of sustainably integrating the human and natural communities for the benefit of both. Learn more.

Recent Blog Posts

Biodiversity Journey on the Preserve

SLC Welcomes Conservation Ecologist Emma Levy

Photo by Alix Soliman. July 25, 2023 By Jamison Watts, Executive Director The Santa Lucia Conservancy is excited to welcome conservation ecologist Emma Levy, M.S., to our team. Levy is a biologist and environmental educator with experience in long-term population monitoring. Having grown up in Carmel Valley, she has an intimate knowledge of the wildlife and people that live here, […]

Grazing as a Tool for California Grassland Conservation: SLC’s Eight-year Study Published in Journal of Applied Vegetation Science

Cattle graze in the foreground, Mesa study plot in the background on the right. Photo by Alix Soliman. July 19, 2023 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator We’re thrilled to announce that the Santa Lucia Conservancy’s eight-year study of livestock grazing as a tool for conservation in California’s coastal grasslands has been published in Applied Vegetation Science. Grasslands cover […]