UC Santa Cruz, in partnership with The Conservation Fund, has announced a major initiative that will safeguard more than 400 acres of land on the Central Coast while expanding opportunities for education, research, and sustainable agriculture. The two-part effort marks a significant step forward in the university’s commitment to environmental stewardship and hands-on learning.

The first phase, finalized on August 20, 2025, secures over 200 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to the residential campus, Moore Creek Reserve, and Wilder Ranch State Park. Long valued for its sensitive habitats, the property will be permanently protected from development and managed by UC Santa Cruz’s Campus Natural Reserves. The land provides critical habitat for species such as the California red-legged frog and the Ohlone tiger beetle, while also serving as a living classroom for students and researchers.

With this addition, the campus’s protected reserves expand beyond their current 789 acres, strengthening a greenbelt that links campus life with regional conservation efforts. Students will be able to seamlessly connect their classroom studies with hands-on experiences in ecology, conservation biology, and habitat restoration just steps away from the main campus.

The second phase looks toward the coast, where UC Santa Cruz and The Conservation Fund are working to acquire more than 200 acres of farmland bordering the Coastal Science Campus and Younger Lagoon. If secured, the property would significantly enlarge the university’s nationally recognized Farm and Center for Agroecology, birthplace of the organic farming movement in the U.S. The oceanfront site offers unique opportunities to pioneer resilient farming practices in fragile coastal environments, advance agroecological research, and strengthen local food systems.

The properties, held for generations by the Younger family, deepen the university’s longstanding connection to the family’s legacy of conservation. Younger Lagoon, donated in 1973, remains one of the region’s last intact wetlands. The new acquisitions build on this legacy, expanding the university’s ability to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable food production.

Community leaders praised the initiative as both a conservation milestone and an investment in education. State Senator John Laird called it a “visionary step” that will benefit future generations, while local officials highlighted the project’s role in protecting open space and supporting climate resilience.

For UC Santa Cruz, the acquisitions are more than land deals — they represent a long-term commitment to sustainability, conservation, and innovative research that will shape the Central Coast for decades to come.

Learn more