Watsonville Wetlands Watch (WWW) is dedicated to preserving, restoring and fostering appreciation of the wetlands of the Pajaro Valley.
Programs benefit students, residents, and local habitats. We provide education and field trips to over 6,000 students from the Pajaro Valley USD each year, from low-to-moderate income households. We engage students in hands-on data collection, analysis, and scientific experimentation to develop their skills as scientists and support their learning and leadership development to inspire them to be environmental stewards. Restoration efforts benefit local wildlife and the wetland ecosystems that connect the Pajaro Valley to the Monterey Bay.
WWW will engage paid youth interns and student leaders in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District to create living schoolyards by planting and providing ongoing care for shade trees, fruit trees, native plants, and pollinator gardens on their school campuses, that support student and environmental health and offer hands-on learning opportunities.
Trees reduce surface temperatures on high heat days, and sequester atmospheric carbon, cleaning air and filtering groundwater before it flows to the Pajaro River. Just 9% of Watsonville is covered by tree canopy. Our goal is 30% tree coverage to achieve parity with similar communities in the region.
As a student teaching younger students about the importance of local wetlands, I became the role model I didn’t have as a child. It made me proud to know I was expanding their knowledge and curiosity on how to take care of our environment.
Andrea Roman Fernandez, Watsonville, age 18
