CNPS ANNUAL REPORT | 2022-23 > Seeding Change
Seeding Change
People make our movement
Together, we are connected by a love for California native plants regardless of who we are or what we do. This year, we challenged ourselves to make space for new ways of seeing, supporting, and connecting to native plants – and each other. Staff and dedicated volunteers pushed each other to put form to our values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ). The work continues as we celebrate the year’s important milestones of our work together.
A Record-Breaking Conference
Under the theme Rooting Together, the sold-out CNPS 2022 Conference was hands-down the most well-attended, energizing, and diverse event in CNPS history. Wide-ranging topics and experiences included oak woodland restoration, native floral arrangements, Indigenous food tasting with the Chia Café Collective, a concert by the one-and-only Sage Against the Machine, and a Land Back presentation that had people watching and cheering from the hallways.
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Financial Aid and Scholarships
Post-Conference survey respondents said they’d recommend the Conference to a friend or colleague
The feeling of community from this large group–although we express it in different ways–we all love native plants and are working for conservation and biodiversity.
– 2022 Conference Attendee
Thank you to the generous sponsors who made the CNPS 2022 Conference a reality!!
Our future is in our young people. It’s very important that we take this knowledge seriously and that we practice it. We can’t be greedy with our knowledge; it’s meant to be shared.
– Rose Hammock, Pomo, Wailacki, & Maidu; Enrolled Tribal Member of Round Valley Indian Tribes
More Impacts
An Award-Winning Documentary
Saging the World
The multi-award winning Saging the World documentary turned the lens on the global rush to obtain white sage (Salvia apiana), a native California plant that is being poached in large quantities, driven by the widespread cultural appropriation of smudging. The brainchild of Rose Ramirez and Deborah Small, the film was co-directed and produced by Ramirez, Small, and David Bryant with CNPS as a co-producer. The film is the centerpiece of an ongoing campaign to support the Indigenous-led effort to safeguard white sage. Learn how activists and allies are working to stop the rampant poaching, foster understanding, and inspire action here and read the special Indigenous-led white sage issue of Flora magazine.
Plants are not just ‘cultural resources.’ Plants are our relatives. They’re to be treated with reciprocal respect.
– Tongva Elder, Craig Torres
An exciting launch for youth programming
Following three years of a disruptive pandemic, children need nature more than ever, especially in underserved communities. With generous support from the Anthony W. LaFetra Charitable Fund, CNPS launched its first major youth programming, the School Nature Garden project. The project, which will run for the next three years, works with students and teachers to produce and install native plant interpretive signage on school campuses, host facilitated native plant lessons, organize an educator conference, and develop a California native plant interpretive curriculum.
Photo credit Jen Aguilar.
A commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ)
This year, CNPS formally ratified its first statewide DEIJ Committee. Comprising staff and volunteers, the committee is set up to help define and hold the organization accountable to its DEIJ values and proposed actions. Working with The Avarna Group and Redbud Resource Group, CNPS worked on a DEIJ vision statement and action plan that will be finalized later in 2023.
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