This year, Facebook has strongly demonstrated its support for Save The Bay’s mission by becoming one of the title sponsors for our 6^th Annual Bay Day. The tech company that makes the Bay Area its home has sponsored the event every year since its inception and also engages in ongoing partnerships with other outstanding local organizations that are focused on endangered species protection efforts.

These include:

San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO)

The SFBBO has combined science and outreach for 40 years to conserve birds and their habitats and protect endangered species in the marshland—the crucial area where Save The Bay also focuses our restoration work. The SFBBO maintains a particular focus on helping protect the Snowy Plover, and also aids the Ridgway’s Rail and salt marsh harvest mouse.

Facebook recently supported one of the SFBBO’s exciting new programs, the Pacific MOTUS Tower Network, which uses an automated radio technology to allow the scientific community to track migrating birds. SFBBO Executive Director Yiwei Wang explains that MOTUS can track species between Bay Area sites… “and also between important migratory locations throughout the West Coast as more Motus towers get added.”

Urban Wildlife Research Project

Facebook supports this project that aims to protect gray foxes in the Palo Alto Baylands—an area important to Save The Bay’s work as well—and to document their behavior in order to establish healthy habitats and develop the biodiverse wildlife corridors necessary for their survival. Some of these foxes even live among Facebook’s on-campus green spaces, having found their way up there from the neighboring Baylands!

In addition to these partnerships that build on Facebook’s longstanding commitment to the environment, the company implements sustainability measures in its operations. Last year, the company achieved net zero emissions (100% renewable energy) in its global operations, and recently committed to being water positive by 2030 (they will restore more water than they consume).

To view Facebook’s Sustainability Report, and learn more about their focus areas—Climate, Energy, Water, Biodiversity, and Responsible Supply Chain—visit sustainability.fb.com.

Save The Bay is excited to partner with long-time supporter, Bank of America as a sponsor of Bay Day.

Bank of America aims to build vibrant communities, where individuals thrive and succeed and have the opportunity to live and work with safe, decent housing, transportation to jobs, strong business corridors and thriving arts and culture districts. As part of this work, Bank of America supports initiatives—such as Save The Bay’s—that support local plans to prepare for/withstand the impacts of climate change, and community greening efforts that create healthy neighborhoods and environmental sustainability through the restoration of open spaces.

Beyond the financial support for Save The Bay’s initiatives, Bank of America has shown real engagement with our organization on a personal level—and that is truly unique.

Bank of America executives and employees from all around the Bay Area have taken the time to get to know us, learn about our programs and activities, and work with us on an ongoing basis. They have made special trips to our restoration sites, such as our Palo Alto Baylands, to tour our native plant nursery and hear about the education sessions we host there. Their dedication to our mission has also meant Bank of America employees generously giving their time to restore our site at the MLK Shoreline in Oakland to plant, weed, and collect trash while gaining a valued team-building experience by the Bay.

Most recently, Save The Bay welcomed a talented Bank of America employee as our newest Board member in 2020! Armello Rodriguez is Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager in Global Commercial Banking, and we are excited to benefit from his wisdom. “At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection,” says Armello Rodriguez, “We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. A critical part of this work is forming strong partnerships with organizations like Save The Bay where our support helps to implement vital projects to build climate-resilient Bay Area communities.”

Bay Day would not be possible without our dedicated sponsors, who demonstrate their commitment to supporting our organization’s mission and the San Francisco Bay. Save The Bay gives special thanks to our official Bay Champion title sponsor for the second year in a row: IBM Bay Area!

Save The Bay is proud to work with regional leaders like IBM, who deliver positive solutions that help the Bay adapt and thrive in the face of climate change. IBM employees have long been passionate and committed caretakers of the natural world that frames their campuses, and in the South Bay, they regularly conduct activities such as “bioblitzes” that help identify and record the variety of species around the Lab.

Another great example of their ongoing engagement with conservation and biodiversity-promoting activities is the Wildlife Habitat Certification program. Five IBM sites nationwide maintain Conservation Certification status through the Wildlife Habitat Council— the only voluntary sustainability standard designed for corporate landholdings.

Of these five sites, two are located in San Jose:

• IBM Research Almaden (active program since 1991), located on 691 acres in the hills, provides valuable wildlife habitat in an otherwise urban setting
• IBM Silicon Valley Laboratory (active program since 2005), contains five major habitats including grassland, streamside, and woodland

At both sites, one of the largest and most successful activities is bird box monitoring. These nest boxes attract many types of birds, including Western Bluebirds and American Kestrels, as well as Barn Owls, and IBM provides data from the project to the Audubon Society.

Another ongoing project involves pollinators (primarily honey bees). IBM partners with a local beekeeper who maintains “bee boxes” on the property. They purchase some of this honey from him to give employees as prizes and incentives for projects like Earth Day and a nature photo contest. The bees also help pollinate a butterfly garden, which maintains milkweed as habitat for Monarch butterflies.

It is a priority for IBM to get employees involved in these activities. “That’s the fun part,” says Michelle Mesler, IBM Environmental Engineer and US West Team Lead. “IBMers can participate in on-site planting or weeding activities, monitor the bluebird boxes during the nesting season, or get involved in habitat restoration projects (both on and off-site) with Save The Bay!”