Green Valley Project Pollinator Corridor

The Green Valley Project is an environmental initiative led by  The C.R.E.W.  We support youth as leaders in preserving Ojai Valley’s natural wonder by  increasing the biodiversity and environmental health, for a lasting impact on our community’s resilience to drought, fire and climate change. The innovative and ambitious ideals of the new generations are what will allow the Green Valley Project to be impactful.  Through GVP, teens and young adults are actively restoring damaged habitats so that native plants and animals can thrive, and there are more abundant supplies of local water and healthy soil. As they take action, young people gain valuable life and career perspectives and prepare to become environmental stewards and advocates. Young people especially deserve the opportunity to play meaningful, leading roles as stewards shaping the natural world they will inherit. This initiative places Ojai Valley youth at the center of this work, participating with their hands, their intellect, and their hearts.

The Green Valley Project's Youth Council is an internship of young leaders, ages 15 to 20, who are committed to creating an upswing in Ojai Valley’s  ecosystem. Together, they have planned and implemented restoration projects aimed to expand chaparral flora and fauna,  remove invasive species, and increase public awareness on environmental matters. Such projects include Re-Oaking Ojai and Save the Pollinators.

In Spring of 2022, Green Valley Project Council Council partnered with Watershed Progressive to create the Green Valley Project Pollinator Corridor. A pollinator Corridor is a network of pollinator gardens that will provide shade, food, and shelter for a variety of pollinators as they migrate through Ventura County. Pollinators have declined by 95% since the 1980s, so it is very important to make an effort to help them recover, especially by cause 35% of food crops rely solely on pollination to reproduce and 75% if the worlds flowering plants rely on pollination from bees, butterflies, birds and other animals to survive. We planted 4 educational community gardens for the community, 50 home pollinator gardens, and added a total of 653 California native plants to our community.

In Fall of 2021, our first ever Green Valley Project Youth Council partnered with Ojai Trees to plant 50 free native oak trees in the Ojai Valley community. Oak Trees play an importance role in protecting Ojai’s watershed. The oak canopy slows rainfall, decreasing erosion of the soil and improving water quality in creeks, streams and rivers. Shading from trees can reduce surrounding temperatures by as much a 6 degrees. Native oak trees can support up to 67 nesting bird species at a time and provide winter shelter and habitat for more than 500 pollinator species.

1. Oak trees can reach 70 feet in height, 135 feet in length, and 9 feet wide. One of the largest oak trees is found in Goose Island State Park. Their sheer size makes them thirsty trees, absorbing upwards of 50 gallons of water a day. This makes them great urban trees, soaking up rainwater runoff and preventing erosion damage.
2. Oak trees don’t start producing acorns until they reach around 20 years old. One tree can make 2,000 acorns every year, but only about 1 in 10,000 will become a new tree.
3. Oak wood barrels are used in the storage and manufacture of various wine, whiskey, and brandy. Some types of beer are oak barrel aged as well.
4. Oak makes solid furniture, ships, floors, and Yamaha drums are even made out of oak trees.
5. While some oak trees can survive for thousands of years, almost all species of oak trees live at least 200 years old. King John planted an oak tree that has survived for 800 years through the reigns of 35 other monarchs.
6. Oak trees were declared America’s national tree in 2004, symbolizing the nation’s strength and sturdiness.
7. The largest living oak tree is located in Mandeville, Louisiana. Apart from being the largest, it also one of the oldest known living oak trees with an estimated age of 1,500 years.
8. About 78 species of oaks are considered to be in danger of extinction.
9. The acorn was an important food source for many California Indigenous groups. Each fall acorns were gathered stored in large granary baskets. During the summer these baskets sat on wooden platforms.
10. Throughout the centuries, mainly in parts of Europe, people worshiped oak trees, associating them with the mythological gods, namely Zeus and Jupiter

Here is a collection of native plant gardens and oak trees placed by GVP members in Ojai Valley.