The Golden Gate Biosphere Network is now a part of TOGETHER Bay Area
The Golden Gate Biosphere Network (GGBN) is now a part of TOGETHER Bay Area. Over the past year, members of the TOGETHER board of directors and the GGBN steering committee have been strategizing about this partnership, and we’re excited to share it with you now.
It’s not often you see two large, well-established networks joining forces to do more together than they could alone. TOGETHER Bay Area is a regional coalition of 80+ organizations across 10 counties and 5 million acres of land, all collaborating for climate resilience and social equity. We just celebrated our 5th anniversary, and we’re building on 30 years of regional coordination in our previous iteration as the Bay Area Open Space Council.
Established in 1988 by UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Program, the GGBN is one of 28 biosphere regions in the US Biosphere Network and spans 28,000 square miles, 5 counties, and 6 national and state parks. The biosphere extends 200 miles out into the ocean and is the only biosphere in the network where land, sea, and city meet. GGBN’s 20 partner groups include federal, state, local, and non-profit organizations.
This new partnership will strengthen the connections between local, regional, state, national, and global efforts for climate resilience and social equity. Combining TOGETHER’s convening power with the global community of Biosphere Reserves has the potential to catalyze the social and environmental changes we need for healthy lands, waters, people, and communities. And this new partnership can strengthen work to achieve goals like conserving 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030.
This announcement comes at an exciting time for both groups. TOGETHER Bay Area is facilitating over 300 scientists and practitioners to update the region’s upland habitat goals for biodiversity conservation. This project, the Conservation Lands Network, aims to catalyze on-the-ground land conservation in order to achieve our coalition’s goal of conserving 50% of the region’s lands by 2050.
And the Golden Gate Biosphere Network recently published a Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, which bolsters the region’s capacity to build climate resilience across the ocean, coast, and lands in ways that weren’t possible before.
The Stewardship Network, a national nonprofit based in Michigan, has served as the Golden Gate Biosphere Network’s fiscal sponsor for the past 3 years, and we are grateful for their partnership.
Thanks to Tom Gardali, Alison Forestall, Lew Stringer, Sharon Farrell, Michelle O’Herron, Melanie Parker, Rebecca Johnson, and Shaun Horne for their leadership on this exciting partnership.
The Conservation Lands Network Steering Committee meeting in May 2026. Credit: Annie Burke
The 2026 TOGETHER Conference. Credit: Jennifer Hale
Golden Gate Bird Alliance, a member of TOGETHER, hosted a field trip at the 2026 TOGETHER Conference. Credit Golden Gate Bird Alliance.
Top photo of Golden Gate Bridge credit: Tanya Spanier.
