By Erik Chalhoub, November 27, 2025 | https://www.montereycountynow.com
On a recent Saturday, more than 100 people, many of them children, gather at Pajaro Middle School to get their hands dirty.
The volunteers are there to add green to the campus by planting trees and other plants, as well as building garden beds and creating an orchard. At the end of the day, they are able to take a tree home to plant in their yard, stretching out the green canopy beyond the campus.
The work is part of the Watsonville Community Forest Project, organized by Watsonville Wetlands Watch. The project is an effort to plant thousands of trees throughout Pajaro and Watsonville to increase its tree canopy.
“Trees are a tremendous tool for climate adaptation,” says Watsonville Wetlands Watch Executive Director Jonathan Pilch. “It’s one of the best tools we have to create shade, improve air quality and beautify the community in a way that makes it a much healthier place to live.”
By Todd Guild - October 7, 2025 | The Pajaronian
Pajaro Middle School got a major landscape overhaul Saturday during a four-hour community event, which included the planting of shade trees, native plants, edible gardens, a fruit tree orchard, and other environmental conservation features.
The so-called Celebration of Trees project was staged by Watsonville Wetlands Watch (WWW).
The event included outreach and education activities, and marked the completion of WWW’s greening plan for the campus, which was developed over the past year with the PVUSD, students and families.
Around 120 volunteers of all ages not only helped get the plants in the ground and create a new outdoor classroom and school garden, they also learned about tree care through presentations by local experts.
Free fruit trees were also provided for adoption by residents of Pajaro and Watsonville.
Learn about our climate action, conservation, and restoration partnership with the City of Watsonville and the work we do to protect, preserve, and improve our wetlands for future generations.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) - Dozens of events taking place to help eliminate litter and illegal dumping throughout the county. The Santa Cruz county board of supervisors has endorsed May 11th as the first annual Santa Cruz County cleanup day.
One of the cleanups took place near Pajaro Valley high school today. About 25 students and community volunteers came out
“This is going to be a clean environment for everyone, it's going to prevent all the trash from ending up into our wetlands and slues which ultimately could end up in the ocean, junior at Pajaro Valley High School Alberto Carrillo said.
This cleanup was also hosted by Watsonville Wetlands watch which works to restore and protect wetlands in the Pajaro Valley.
Cleanup events in unincorporated parts of Santa Cruz County were made possible in part through Measure C, single-use funds.
By Tarmo Hannula, February 3, 2024 | https://pajaronian.com
WETLANDS STEWARDS – Saira Ramos (foreground, left) of Watsonville Wetlands Watch helps public volunteers with a widespread planting project Saturday as part of World Wetlands Day at Struve Slough. Watsonville Wetlands Watch co-hosted the event that drew more than 250 people. After hearing words from a list of officials that included Assemblyman Robert Rivas and California State Senator John Laird, several groups headed out around the slough to put new plant starters in the ground.
“We’re in a climate crisis, the new norm; we’re witnesses ing extreme weather patterns,” Rivas said. “Tackling this climate crisis requires a collective effort — and that means all of us.”
