Stewardship starts with knowing the land you’re on.
We believe that caring for the land begins at home, and that every backyard, balcony, and shared garden can become a place of healing for both people and the living world. Our commitment is to restore native biodiversity, strengthen climate resilience, and cultivate a culture of stewardship that honors relationship, reciprocity, and responsibility to future generations. Through education, connection, and action, we work to help Marin’s communities become active caretakers of the places they love.
Our Story
Marin Backyard Habitats grew from a lifelong relationship with the landscapes of Northern California.
These are the oak woodlands, creeks, grasslands, and coastal hills that shaped both a sense of wonder and a deep respect of living systems for our founder Jim Normandi who grew up wandering the wild coastline of West Marin and hiking the alpine lakes of the Sierra Nevada.
After decades working in natural resources, horticulture, and residential landscapes — including years as the owner of Fairfax Backyard Farmer — and witnessing both the beauty and the growing vulnerability of our local ecosystems, it became clear to him that the future of biodiversity and climate resilience would depend not only on protected wildlands, but on how everyday people care for the places they live.
This program was born from that realization: backyards, balconies, and shared green spaces aren’t separate from nature—they’re part of it. As climate change, wildfire, and habitat loss intensify, there is an urgent need to reconnect people with their land in ways that are practical, hopeful, and empowering. Marin Backyard Habitats brings science, story, and stewardship together to help residents understand their place in the larger web of life and rediscover the quiet, meaningful act of tending a small piece of Earth as a powerful form of community and climate action.
Our Pillars
Our Partners
Our partners provide the funding, expertise, and community connections that help bring science-based habitat restoration directly to Marin neighborhoods. Whether you lead an organization or just care about this land, there’s a place for you in this movement.
Land Acknowledgment
Marin Backyard Habitats operates on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Coast Miwok people, who have stewarded these oak woodlands, grasslands, and coastal hills since time immemorial. We honor the Coast Miwok Nation and the present-day community of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, the federally recognized tribe of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo descendants, who continue that stewardship today.
We recognize that the practices we teach — caring for native plants, tending soil and water, observing the rhythms of a place — descend from knowledge held by the Coast Miwok long before us. As we work to restore biodiversity and resilience across Marin, we’re committed to learning from and supporting Indigenous-led stewardship, and to being good guests on this land.
Become a Backyard Steward
Take the next step by enrolling in the Marin Backyard Habitats pilot program — begin your journey as a certified steward, connect with your local ecosystem, and join a growing community working together to restore biodiversity and climate resilience, one yard at a time.