- Habitat Stewardship — Steward California oaks and other native species on Stanford University open space lands.
- Silicon Valley Barcode of Life — Engage people in learning why biodiversity is important and in acting to protect it.
- Reduce Waste. Feed People. — Collect and process tens of tons of produce and prepared food for distribution to thousands of deserving people.
- Liveable City — Research and advocate for ecologically-informed public policy and individual action to improve quality of life in cities and towns.
Habitat Stewardship
In 1980, Magic began working in partnership with Stanford University biology faculty and land managers to regenerate failing oak populations on the foothills which rise to the southwest of the central campus.
We pursue this work to enhance the ecological integrity of local open space used by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and to provide opportunities for people who want to learn about ecology by protecting and restoring qualities of the environment on which all of us depend. Over decades, tens of thousands of volunteers have established thousands of oaks and tens of thousands of other native plants.
Silicon Valley Barcode of Life
SVBOL is a cognitive activism project. We work with nature to change hearts and minds. We’re engaging people of Silicon Valley in learning why biodiversity is important to human well-being, and in acting to protect it.
We collect samples of organisms present here, read specific small segments of DNA to generate identifying “barcodes,” and upload findings to a publicly accessible database (BOLD) that can be used to document what exists and how it changes. SVBOL is one of many International Barcode of Life (ibol.org) initiatives worldwide.
Reduce Waste. Feed People.
We collect and process surplus food from retailers, farmers, homeowners, and others. In a typical year, we receive, process, and transport more than twenty tons of nutritious produce and prepared foods that we and our service agency partners make available to thousands of deserving people through prepared meals, nutrition and cooking education classes, and direct food distribution.
Liveable City
We advocate for ecologically-informed land use, transportation, and other public policies. We’ve successfully led campaigns to bring neighbors together, enhance safety and convenience for pedestrians and cyclists, promote localism, plant and care for trees in parks and along roadways, limit use of debris blowers, reserve parking for residents on residential streets, address over-building, improve energy-efficiency, reduce energy and other resource use, increase and protect parks and open spaces, and more.