Wishtoyo Spring Campaign!

For the past several years we’ve been quietly working - listening to the land, humbly and eagerly learning lessons she had to teach, finding new solutions, experimenting and researching how to take what was once polluted, compacted, pesticide-infused soil and let the land breathe new life again.

This is our daily life at the Wishtoyo Conservancy.

It’s not glamorous or trendy.

It’s challenging and complex.

It is love, traditional knowledge, responsibility, relationship, and reciprocity in committed practice - it’s worth it.

At every turn, we deepen our understanding of what the land needs, we think critically about the future generations' access to healthy ecosystems, and we deepen our connection to this very special place.

This spring, we invite you to dig deep into the soil with us as we work to create a better, healthier, and more diverse future for all.

We are asking you to help us raise $5,000 to support healing the land at the Wishtoyo Chumash Conservancy. We are opening up our hearts to share this special work with you and invite you to learn from the lessons taught to us by the land. We can’t wait to show you never-before-seen looks at our progress - including where we started and our hopes for the future.

Your donation brings you into a relationship with the land we all depend upon. Every dollar goes back into the care and conservation of this special place, the outcomes of which can be shared and applied to polluted spaces on a wider scale. Here are some key points that will be part of this work:

• A kinship-based approach to researching and experimenting with pesticide alternatives, sustainable land management practices rooted in traditional Indigenous knowledge.

• Healing 100 acres of soil to support the return of biodiversity.

• Establishing Indigenous food systems to connect people to culturally relevant food and medicine, giving them a place to learn the stewarding, harvesting, and preparation for Indigenous food sovereignty.

• Building a native seed bank to protect biodiversity and ecosystem health, support food security, and preserve our culture so that future generations will have access to our native plant allies.

• Creating a living, sustainable outdoor education space for members of the community to visit, learn, and recharge.

All these moving parts of the Wishtoyo Conservancy ultimately uplift and center Native people and our traditional practices in environmental work - which strengthens our connection to ancestral Chumash land. Your support makes this all possible!

Kiy’aqinaliyuw! We are grateful you are with us on this journey!