The Marin chapter of CNPS is happy to announce that we are accepting applications for our 2024 Micro Grants, intended to assist with projects that advance our mission. The California Native Plant Society is dedicated to protecting and advocating for California’s native plants. The Marin chapter focuses on expanding our knowledge about what grows in Marin, advocating for native plants and their habitats, and encouraging the use of native plants in public spaces and home gardens.
Applications are due Dec 16, 2023 and recipients will be announced in February 2024. Please see details about eligibility and application process here.
Recipients of 2023 Micro Grants
Refugia Marin, Larkspur
Refugia Marin is a newly-formed environmental and educational organization that identifies neglected public spaces in Marin for rehabilitation. In the Fall of 2021, we worked with the Town of Corte Madera to plant a new native plant landscape adjacent to Neil Cummins Elementary School. This grant will allow us to restore the untended land adjacent to the school fence and integrate it with the school garden to create a larger garden of richer diversity for pollinators and other creatures.
Future site of a diverse pollinator garden
Coleman Elementary School, San Rafael
With this grant, we plan to establish a native plant teaching garden that would connect to our curriculum, especially for third and fourth graders. In those grades they learn about ecosystems, natural resources and the state’s plants and animals. We are looking to bring to life all of these topics. We will also be including a Monarch butterfly sanctuary which will give us an opportunity to understand how our choices and action help protect essential species.
One of the areas to be planted at Coleman school
West Marin Monarch Sanctuary, Bolinas
The West Marin Monarch Sanctuary is an extensive planting created on private land in Bolinas. The restoration is aimed at providing for the needs of migrating Monarch butterflies, which used to overwinter there in earlier decades but have been seen only in small numbers lately. We will use the grant to host events to educate and inspire the public about native plants and ways to meet the needs of Monarchs and other pollinators. We will also create signage in the sanctuary listing the different sections (grassland, wildflower, riparian, etc.) and the fifty plus species of native plants growing there.
Ole Schell, founder of the Monarch Sanctuary