California Central Coast Habitat Restoration & Mitigation Bank Planning

Great Ecology led the development of a beneficial site re-use program for Chevron, assessing dozens of degraded surplus and buffer properties along the central California coast, ranging in size from 300 to 3,200 acres. Using extensive ecological knowledge and experience in habitat restoration, Great Ecology developed a strategy to generate mitigation and conservation banking credits from their land portfolio through habitat restoration, development of publicly accessible hiking and biking trails, creation of viewpoints, and other key features. Evaluations involved in-depth assessment of regional ecosystem markets and preliminary analysis of site conditions and potential for ecological uplift at the site-specific and landscape level. Mitigation options were ranked based on project feasibility, habitat type, mitigation credit type, and other key factors.

Great Ecology’s evaluations and restoration planning informed Chevron’s decisions regarding mitigation banking as a strategy to monetize their surplus and buffer properties onsite. The program concluded with development of a support document to guide the project managers and decision-makers in identifying the highest and best use of their degraded surplus sites across the region.