About

Amigos de los Rios /The Emerald Necklace Group is a legacy 501(c) 3 non-profit environmental justice; community based natural infrastructure design organization committed to planning and implementing convergent natural infrastructure projects for the benefit of residents of the East Los Angeles Basin. This Landscape Scale Vision, entitled the ‘LA Basin Emerald Necklace’ protects biodiversity, provides greening benefits to underserved communities and integrates nature and urban forestry within the city at a variety of scales. Our proposed ‘Mountains to the Sea’ interconnected watershed-scale system of multi-objective parks, green spaces, trails and green school campuses stretches from the San Gabriel Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The goal of implementing this vision is to protect and enhance ecosystem services while improving equitable recreation opportunities, reducing impact of climate change and protecting public health outcomes for urban residents.

Mission

The mission of Amigos de los Rios is to create sustainable open spaces, strengthen community life, and preserve the environment in underserved areas of Southern California. Working closely with community members, we strategically partner to design, to build, and to restore parks and open spaces for recreation and education, with a focus on the urban rivers and their tributaries. Amigos enhances the capacity of communities to protect their social and natural environment for the benefit of current and future generations.