Urban Conservation
Services
Restoration projects
We offer site-specific planning, guidance, and resources for habitat restoration projects within urban neighborhoods. We can point you to cost-saving incentives and provide guidance on where to find grants, materials, and free native plants. If you need to hire help to complete a project, we can direct you to professionals like work crews, arborists, engineers, and permitting contacts. We can also help interpret zoning and permitting codes that could impact your project.
We provide conservation plans for projects that are one acre or larger. Neighboring properties may also team up to create a single large project. If you have less than one acre, contact the Backyard Habitat Certification Program.
See examples of past projects:
Community & demonstration gardens
What you can do
We can help you get started with all kinds of gardens
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Start a new garden
Access financial support to start a new community garden.
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Backyard Habitat Certification Program
The Backyard Habitat Certification Program can help make your garden the best it can be for wildlife and all living things.
Visit backyardhabitats.org -
Pollinator plants and bloom periods
Just by putting in a few native plants, a small parcel of urban land can greatly benefit pollinators.
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Soil School
Soil School is a lively one-day workshop full of sessions on a wide variety of topics for gardeners, landscape professionals, and small-scale farmers.
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Meadowscaping Handbook
Meadowscaping is a great form of gardening that benefits all kinds of pollinators. Our popular handbook shows you how.
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Ask a Master Gardener
If you have a question about a specific plant or garden pest, ask a Master Gardener.
Visit multnomahmastergardeners.org -
Solve Pest Problems
For guidance on a wide variety of garden pests, visit Solve Pest Problems.
Visit SolvePestProblems -
Conservation Directory
Find products and services from select local businesses that can help you get your conservation project done.
Find resources for your conservation project.
Stormwater & erosion control
There are many things you can do to reduce runoff, erosion, and non-point source pollution:
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Plant grasses, shrubs or trees on this list of Native Plants for Erosion Control, and refer to our Tree Planting Guide.
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Restore disturbed soils and replant with native or beneficial plants.
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Depave by removing unnecessary impervious surfaces and restoring landscaping. Or consider porous walkways and patios.
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Add potted planters to underused hardscapes
Erosion control
Check out our list of Native Plants for Erosion Control. These grasses, shrubs, and trees literally hold the soil in place with their root systems and the fibrous mycorrhiza fungus that attach to them.
Stormwater Stars
We proudly support the Stormwater Stars program—properties that have improved their landscape spaces to help manage rain in our city. If you are interested in learning more about how to revamp your yard or community space join a hands-on planning and installation workshop or tour!
Habitats
Portland’s West Hills have many different habitats, ranging from large and intact upland forests to steep and fast-flowing streams to bustling Oregon White Oak outcrops as well as small “pocket habitats” in the built environment. These all play critical roles in watershed and human health, and provide important wildlife habitat and connectivityConnectivity the degree to which patches of landscape are connected, either helping or impeding animal movement and other ecological processes like the flow of water or dispersal of seeds to a wide array of species. Our staff can help provide conservation plan assistance to urban residents, including renters & apartment spaces; community spaces, such as commercial properties and communities of faith; and schools. We can also connect people with resources to implement and maintain their projects.