The Care Forest Project
A Living Sanctuary for Therapeutic Conservation in the Santa Cruz Mountains
Forest Conservation + Human Restoration
About
A living sanctuary for therapeutic conservation in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, The Care Forest Project brings the opportunity to participate in meaningful ecological and personal restoration to everyday people.Through memberships, guided visits, and opportunities to help the land heal from recent wildfire and unsustainable logging practices, this effort, situated in a 70-acre Redwood forest, aims to develop a model of therapeutic conservation, healing ourselves as we help heal the land.
What is a Care Forest?
Inspired by the care farm movement in the UK, the tradition of forest bathing in Japan, and the understanding that being in our natural habitat has a positive impact on humans, I wanted to create a model for bringing conservation and restoration together and to expand uses of privately held forests beyond the production of timber.A Care Forest is more than a protected landscape, it’s a place where tending the Earth becomes a living practice.Rather than extract from it, we listen.Rather than own it, we belong to it.Here, conservation is not about control, it’s about relationship.
Click join to become a Care Forest Project supporting member
The entire area where the Care Forest is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains was clear cut, starting in the 1880s.The old growth quality of this forest was destroyed, and the giant trees were used to fire kilns used to produce lime. In the decades that followed, Redwood trees were harvested without any restrictions, further disturbing the ability of the forest to stay healthy and balanced.
"This project is a response to both our changing climate and the critical need we have to find meaningful ways to heal our relationship with the soil, ourselves, and each other."
Our Redwoods
Redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth. They thrive in coastal fog, regenerate from fire, and store more carbon than any other species.This particular forest contains a rare original-growth grove, among the five percent of ancient redwood habitat in California that remains from clear cutting practices that didn’t take the full value of these trees into account.Their roots are shallow but interconnected, they keep each other standing; they contain entire ecosystems in their canopies that have only recently been discovered.These trees are our elders, they are survivors, and they are teachers.I call them our redwoods because I don’t view them as belonging to me - how can anyone really own a forest? It’s my hope you join in this effort of therapeutic micro-conservation, giving and receiving love from these trees.
My Story
My name is Juko, and I live in this forest in an off-grid tiny house. I have been in relationship with this land for many years, and it has been a great source of healing, humility, and wonder the entire time.After losing my home to wildfire, the forest became both my anchor and my teacher.What began as protection became a deeper invitation to listen, to grieve, to care, and to co-exist.This project is one way I share that invitation with others.
Offset Your Environmental Impact
We live in an era of unprecedented change, and attempting to take a stand against those changes is difficult given the way our lives, work, and communities are set up.Supporting this land is a way to give back to the living world.Your membership helps protect the forest, tend the land, and share its quiet teachings through place-based storytelling, healing visits, and education.The content on offer here is alive, not live-streamed. It brings us an opportunity to offset our impact on the environment and engage in small-scale conservation that you can come and see and touch.
Therapeutic Conservation
Tending the forest is part of the healing.
We welcome volunteers to help build and maintain trails, clear invasive plants, and join us in the slow, sacred work of stewardship.There’s something grounding about placing your hands on the earth with no need to fix or prove anything. Just presence.
Membership Benefits
Perks include invitations to our nature immersions, trail work parties, ultra-private camping reservations, and other opportunities to visit the trees you are helping preserve. Taking action, no matter how small, is an important step from moving away from the overwhelm of confronting our climate crisis.
In-Kind Support
We welcome offers of tools, skills, and support that help care for the land.Past in-kind gifts have included trail-making hand tools, heavy-duty camping gear for guests who are new to spending time outdoors, building materials, and the use of heavy equipment to clear brush and maintain our roads.If you have tools or equipment to contribute and are local or will be in our area, please reach out.
If you’d like to send funds to chip in for our forestry management equipment fund, you can do so via Venmo.
Please share what we do with individuals or organizations who would make great partners for this work.
Visit the Forest
Members may arrange quiet visits to walk, rest, or simply be.
We also host occasional small-group forest bathing walks and personal retreats.
If you’re interested in visiting, contact us directly to learn more.
Connect Online
Want more? Check out the forest iNaturalist page to see the flora and fauna found here, Pinterest for photos uploaded from walks and outings among the trees, and our YouTube channel for video content from the forest.
Our Neighbors
We are fortunate to have some really amazing neighbors who also engage in using nature to help others connect, and heal. Beeline Blooms is a dahlia farm on an adjacent parcel - reach out if you are planning a visit and would like to come and take a walk in the forest afterwards.We are directly adjacent to the Fall Creek Unit of the Henry Cowell State Park, a 2,500 acre oasis with 21 miles of hiking trails. It’s quiet with a variety of terrains and elevations, and is the location of lime kiln ruins - where most of the original growth trees that once populated the Care Forest were burned as fuel.
