Nature Connectivity Ad Hoc

City of Palo Alto Parks & Recreation Commission — Nature Connectivity Ad Hoc, presented by Commissioners Bing Wei and Shani Kleinhaus, July 2026.

Task: To strengthen biodiversity and pollinator connectivity across the park system, consistent with the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan, Parks & Recreation Strategic Plan and the S/CAP, and informed by regional best practices.

A landscape can contain dozens of tree species and still provide little biodiversity if those trees do not support local food webs. The more local the plant, the closer evolutionary relationships and richer biodiversity. Biodiversity is not the number of plant species present. It is the number of living species those plants support.