Welcome to the Friends of Pajaro Dunes website!

We are celebrating our 10th Anniversary with a totally remodeled web presence.   We hope you find it informative and useful.

Four new laptops and a video projector arrived at the WERC!

Friends of Pajaro Dunes (FoPD) delivered four new HP laptops and a new Optoma video projector on Wednesday, December 29, to the Wetlands Education Resource Center (WERC) located at Pajaro Valley High School.   Noelle Antolin, Education Program Director at the WERC, was on hand to receive the gifts from Pajaro Dunes.   FoPD has focused its fund-raising efforts on this program for five years providing much needed technology and IT assistance.  Read more about the WERC and its amazing programs here.

Read our latest newsletter for Fall/Winter 2010

As part of our annual fund-raising campaign this December, we have created a two page, full color newsletter.   This newsletter was mailed to all Pajaro Dunes homeowners during the first week of December.   Included with the newsletter was a contribution form.   Please complete the form and make your tax-deductible donation today!

If you didn’t receive a newsletter, read it here online.

Help us build the Pajaro Dunes Greenhouse!

In the upcoming year, we plan to focus on the construction of the Pajaro Dunes Native Plant Greenhouse.    We are planning to build this greenhouse on the Pajaro Dunes South property to propagate native plants for installation along the “last mile” including both north and south communities.  We will also offer extra capacity to our community friends like the Watch, Resource Conservation District and State Parks.To achieve this goal, we are offering to name our new greenhouse in honor of a donor who contributes $10,000.   This tax-deductible donation will allow us to build the greenhouse we need to meet both current and future native plant needs.

We also have a new way to contribute online using PayPal.

Last Mile Restoration Works Days!

Two restoration work days were held where homeowners, community volunteers and local high school students replanted the areas with native species along the last mile of the Watsonville Slough in Pajaro Dunes south.

Please visit the newly restored habitat along the last mile.  This project was completely funded by state and federal programs.  It was a joint effort coordinated by the Watsonville Wetlands Watch and Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz.  Look for the blue “Watershed Enhancement Project” sign along Rio Boca Road.

Read more about the Last Mile Restoration Project here

Two Aptos High School students, Alvaro and Ivan, earned five community service hours during the September work day.  Their experience was documented on film.  Watch the trailer here.