A view of San Francisco from Bernal Heights neighborhood there are trees to the right and residential properties to the left.

 

San Francisco is located in a global biodiversity hotspot - we have rich biological diversity but also a lot of current and potential impacts. Despite being 95% developed, our city contains dozens of natural ecological communities, harboring an astounding diversity of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, rare and endangered species, and over 500 local native plants. We celebrate our diversity, but it is also under serious threat.

 

The city's biodiversity resides in iconic park lands like the Presidio, Twin Peaks, Glen Canyon, Lake Merced and Golden Gate Park. These places harbor a remarkable diversity of ecological communities of native habitats, plants and animals. The California Biodiversity Initiative validates that San Francisco's wetlands, prairies, dunes, oak woodlands and other wildlife habitats are part of the California Floristic Province, identified by Conservation International and the Nature Conservancy as a global biodiversity hotspot. Our local bioregion is recognized by the United Nations as the Golden Gate Biosphere Reserve

Read more on our blog.

San Francisco’s biodiversity exists among a complex urban geography of parklands, natural areas, urban forests, community gardens and neighborhoods. Despite intense urban development, San Francisco still has significant areas of extraordinary natural ecosystems, including grasslands, wetlands, coastal scrub, dunes, woodlands, and, of course, the Bay and the Ocean.

Read more about animals, plants, places, and ecosystems in San Francisco.

People and organized groups participate in community-based stewardship of our local natural lands, restoring habitat and their own nature connection, which nurtures local ecological and community health.

Read more.

Bees and other pollinators and insects in general are declining. Pollinators (bees, birds, butterflies and bats) are necessary for the health of our food crops, and insects - after plants - are the foundation of our natural ecosystems.

Read more about the local pollinators in San Francisco.

The Biodiversity program supports collaborative, interagency conservation planning and management for a comprehensive watershed- and ecosystem-based natural resources management and stewardship program. It facilitates ecological restoration of wildlife habitats and educates the public about living natural heritage and local ecological stewardship opportunities.

Learn more about the Biodiversity program.

Find, tend, grow

Discover, explore, heal and restore the city's natural habitats, places and species.
 

Oak trees in a sunlit park along a trail

Find the Wild

SFE staff and volunteers walk up twin peak hills in San Francisco to tend to the natural environment

Tend the Wild

California poppies

Grow the Wild

Related content

Various native plants in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

City of San Francisco biodiversity guidelines

San Francisco Climate Action Plan

San Francisco biodiversity program and policy

An old map of San Francisco

San Francisco's natural heritage