4th Annual Conservation Celebration
Desert Botanical Garden awarded Patrick J. Graham, former Arizona state director of The Nature Conservancy, its 2020 Conservation Award during the Fourth Annual Conservation Celebration on Nov. 19. The award honors individuals for their significant and enduring contributions to the conservation of the Sonoran Desert. More than 110 attendees of this year’s virtual Conservation Celebration also celebrated the work of Central Arizona Conservation Alliance, an initiative of Desert Botanical Garden.
Graham has led The Nature Conservancy in Arizona for 19 years. In this role, he has changed the landscape for conservation in the entire region. He has built a lasting legacy through innovative approaches and built partnerships with organizations, government, and both urban and rural Arizona communities. Graham not only is responsible for leading these innovative projects on the ground, but also has worked to move the needle forward for conservation at the policy level in both the state and Washington, D.C.
Graham and his team have led initiatives like the Healthy Cities initiative, which aims to reduce heat and improve the largest project in the history of the US Forest Service with tens of thousands of acres thinned to support forest health, and the Verde River offset program, which built the first-of-its-kind system to funnel stormwater underground to replenish aquifers.
The Conservation Celebration also featured Gary Paul Nahban, a celebrated author, MacArthur Award recipient and innovative agricultural ecologist. He formerly served as Desert Botanical Garden’s director of research and co-founded Native Seeds/SEARCH in 1982, which connects people with the native plants of the Southwest. Considered a pioneer in the local food movement and the heirloom seed-saving movement, he discussed and shared his latest book, The Nature of Desert Nature.
