California’s native plants shape the places we love and the lives we lead. They line our trails, anchor our watersheds, shelter wildlife, and embody a resilience that has shaped California for millennia. With more than 6,500 native plant species, including thousands found nowhere else on Earth, California holds an irreplaceable share of the world’s biodiversity.
Today, these plants and the lands that sustain them face unprecedented threats. Climate change, pollution, invasive species, and development pressure are pushing ecosystems to the brink. Public lands—nearly half of California—remain vital refuges for biodiversity, yet even these cherished places are increasingly at risk. What feels permanent can be lost, and what is lost may never return.
For over 60 years, the California Native Plant Society has stood up for California’s native plants when they needed protection most. Through rigorous science, trusted partnerships, grassroots advocacy, and a powerful statewide community, CNPS works to defend the landscapes that sustain life and inspire connection. Our 35 chapters, thousands of volunteers, and dedicated members act locally and advocate broadly—because protecting biodiversity requires both heart and action.
Your gift helps hold the line for California’s native plants and habitats—turning care into protection and hope into lasting impact. Together, we can secure a future where native plants—and all life that depends on them—can thrive.
When we save native plants, we save everything else.
The mission of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is to protect California's native plants and their natural habitats, today and into the future, through science, education, stewardship, gardening and advocacy.
In California – one of Earth’s 36 biodiversity hotspots – the stakes are high. More than 1,000 types of native plants are currently threatened or endangered, while the confluence of extreme wildfire, persistent drought, and an urgent housing crisis are increasing pressure on native plant habitats. And now, we face unprecedented threats to environmental protections at the national level – making what we do here in California even more critical to protecting native plants and the web of life they support.
The challenges before us also provide opportunities to strengthen the native plant movement: How will we protect the areas that provide the greatest multi-benefit solutions for biodiversity and climate resilience, and that are under greatest threat? How can we transform California’s communities with spaces for people and nature to thrive? How can we fulfill the promise that every person living in California deserves: to have a direct and joyful relationship with California native plants?
CNPS is facing these challenges and opportunities head on. Your support helps make our crucial work in conservation advocacy, plant science, public education, and native plant horticulture possible. The success of our mission depends on the commitment of individuals like you who care about safeguarding California’s native plants for future generations. We cannot do it without you.
The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) envisions a future in which native plant diversity flourishes, where all people have access to native plants in both the built environment and the wild, and where people of every background play a vital role in the conservation of our native plant heritage. We work to protect native plants and their habitats not only because we love nature, but because we are a part of nature.
Wherever we live, whoever we are, the health of landscapes is intimately intertwined with the health of communities. Native plant issues are multidimensional and multidisciplinary, and today’s native plant movement represents a wide range of views and interests.
We are an organization that advocates for the best available science, but we also recognize that Western science isn’t the only lens through which people view and connect with plants. Just as biodiversity is essential to native plant communities, a diversity of perspectives and knowledge is necessary to achieve our mission.
We commit to action and invite you to learn more about our commitments here: www.cnps.org/deij
Organization name
California Native Plant Society
other names
CNPS
1965
Mission Category
Environment
Operating Budget
$5,000,001-$10 million
Organization Need
Funding: Unrestricted, Funding: Program
Demographics Served
General population
BIPOC Leadership
Executive Director/CEO
Local Counties Served
El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Yolo
Address
2707 K Street Suite 1CA, US