Ice plant has taken over large sections of Lampton Cliffs Park in Cambria. Now, community members are working to remove it and bring native plants back to the area.
“The whole section in the center with a lot of the ice plant there — all of that is going to come out,” said Suzanne Fiedler, Lampton Cliffs Restoration Project Coordinator.
Established in 1992, Lampton Cliffs Park off Lampton Street was intended to be an ecological preserve and organizers are working to reestablish that.
“It’s the closest one so it’s easy to get to and we can sit on the benches right over here and watch the ocean and chill,” said Mark Nadel, Cambria resident.
“It’s used very frequently by the immediate neighbors and a lot of visitors. It’s restful and people like the fact that it’s natural,” Fiedler said.
As part of the San Luis Obispo County Parks’ Adopt-A-Park program, the project will work to restore the habitat and support the local wildlife that relies on native plants for food and shelter.
“Once we remove the ice plant, we’re going to wait for a growing season and hope that the seeds from natives are underground and will come up by themselves. That has happened elsewhere on the coast,” Fiedler said.
Along with removing ice plants from designated sections, dead shrubbery will be pulled, and pathways cleared.
“You can’t even see right now but [there are] little wooden borders along here,” Fiedler said.
She explained that the ice plant originates from South Africa and has a shallow root system that destabilizes soil while spreading quickly which in turn affects the local habitat.
“The invasives are really taking away the opportunity for the native plants, birds, insects, pollinators to take advantage of the coastline and the plants that would normally live here,” Fiedler said.
In the works for more than a year, the project is currently in its fundraising phase with a goal of $5,000.
“We are going to need some basic supplies. We are volunteer-based so we expect a lot of people will have the tools that we will need,” Fiedler said.
Volunteers are needed to help with things like removing the invasive plants and scheduling dates for ice plant-pulling.
“We’d like to get the majority of this done by the end of this year. A lot of that will depend on the fundraising and availability of volunteers,” Fiedler said
Organizers for the project are looking to schedule their first ice plant-pulling party in early September. For more information on the Lampton Cliffs Restoration project or to volunteer, send an email to: lamptonrestore@gmail.com or call: 858-541-7040.
