Far Out Safari

We're not lion - we had a roaring good time bringing East County families to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park this month! Spread across two weekends, we transported more than 100 people from three El Cajon schools (Anza Elementary, Johnson Elementary, and Lexington Elementary) to experience the awe of exotic wildlife up close. From the comfort of the safari tram, families marveled at rhinos, giraffes, oryxes, lions, and more. After the tram expedition, EDI staff guided our adventurous guests to other areas of the park, including the Australian Walkabout and the Tiger Trail, where they got to see the utterly adorable new tiger cub!

In addition to the Safari Park trips, we also purchased and distributed 100 tickets to the San Diego Zoo to El Cajon families from schools we serve, ensuring even more opportunities for our community to connect with the wonders of nature. We were able to provide these trips completely free for all our guests as part of our Education Through Recreation program. This program is funded by the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, created through AB 209 and administered by California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services. We want to express our deep gratitute to our amazing community liasons -Narjiss Aziz, Samar Alyas, and Doaa Polus -who work tirelessly to help us recruit families for our Education Through Recreation events!

National Park Service Apprentices Visit El Monte

Apprentices from the National Park Service joined us for a tour of our 15-acre cactus scrub restoration site at El Monte Ecological Preserve! We had a wonderful evening with them chatting about our efforts to restore native habitat to support threatened species (like the Coastal Cactus Wren) and combat climate change!

Milestone at El Monte

We are filled with immense gratitude as we celebrate a significant milestone for our cactus scrub restoration project. On Monday, we spotted our first Coastal Cactus Wren at El Monte Ecological Preserve*!!! This sighting is a testament to the tireless efforts of our incredible Conservation Dream Team and our dedicated volunteer heroes. Their hard work and passion are helping to create vital habitat for this California Species of Special Concern, as well as many other species.

*Since we were soaking in the special moment, we did not manage to get a photo, so this is a picture of a Coastal Cactus Wren at the Safari Park!

Volunteers Dig In to Help Restore San Diego's Cactus Scrub

EDI's conservation team hosted three weekend volunteer events this November, planting 240 coastal sage scrub species at El Monte! Our staff also installed an additional 430 plants. Funded by the Wildlife Conservation Board, this restoration project also includes planting a buffer zone with support from SDG&E. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who made this work possible - your efforts are essential to restoring and rewildling San Diego County's natural habitats!

Happy 3 year work-iversary to Ashley Mota, EDI's Office Administrator!

A very happy 3-year work-iversary to our wonderful Ashley Mota! Every organization has that one essential person working behind the scenes to make sure all the gears run smoothly. At EDI, that person is Ashley. Without her administrative (and at times moral!) support, it would not be possible for EDI's staff to deliver all the incredible programming you read about in these newsletters. Ashley's warmth, irrepressible enthusiasm, genuine kindness and eagerness to help every single person she encounters, make her a true joy to be around. You are an invaluable member of the EDI family, Ashley. Thank you for all that you do!! - Sarah Maisonneuve, Executive Director