Galveston Bay Foundation

See Schedule OConservation programs work to preserve, protect, and restore important coastal habitats that provide critical ecosystem services and have suffered loss or degradation. The Foundation works closely with numerous partners in land acquisition, land stewardship, habitat restoration, and habitat enhancement activities across the Bay. As an accredited land trust, the Foundation protects natural areas by acquiring real estate and partnering with landowners to establish conservation easements on private lands. Currently, the Foundation owns or holds conservation easements on over 15,140 acres of land around Galveston Bay to ensure the Bay is conserved in perpetuity. Habitat restoration activities work to ensure healthy habitats for productive and sustainable populations of native species. Projects, located at restoration sites all around Galveston Bay, focus on protection of eroding shorelines; restoration of wetlands, oyster reef, coastal prairie, and bird rookery; and removal of marine debris. The Foundation maintains a native plant nursery to provide stock for habitat restoration work around Galveston Bay and offers native plants sales within the community.

See Schedule O Research programs monitor trends affecting Galveston Bay's most valuable coastal resources. Current efforts monitor dolphin populations (in partnership with the Environmental Institute of Houston), marine debris, and water quality at sites around Galveston Bay. These efforts are collaborative, involving research partners throughout the region and beyond. Several utilize trained citizen scientists to augment professional monitoring data. Findings are widely communicated through data portals, public presentations, and scientific publications. Most monitoring efforts are ongoing in an effort to collect large datasets spanning many years, though some are initiated to allow the Foundation to respond to specific incidents impacting the bay. Beyond the research efforts the Foundation takes on, it also regularly advocates for the allocation of research dollars to the region to ensure the health of Galveston Bay and its users.

See Schedule OEducation and outreach programs aim to connect our community to Galveston Bay and inspire lifelong stewardship through diverse programs, trainings, tools, and events that reach tens of thousands of people each year. The Foundation's youth education programs connect students, teachers, and administrators with the rich local environment, whether in the classroom, in the field, or online, through hands-on STEM curriculum and resources. The Foundation also offers rain barrel installation workshops and distributes rain barrels to the public. Ongoing public outreach campaigns and initiatives target segments of the population to increase awareness of the importance of Galveston Bay and address specific issues of concern.

Advocacy programs aim to give a voice to Galveston Bay, taking an inclusive and collaborative approach to protect the health and well-being of the bay. The Foundation attempts to balance the multiple uses of Galveston Bay so that the long-term interests of the Bay itself are not compromised. Through initiatives such as the Galveston Bay Report Card (released in partnership with the Houston Advanced Research Center) and the Galveston Bay Action Network (GBAN) pollution reporting app, the Foundation provides tools to enable the public to take positive actions for Galveston Bay.