Saving the Bolsa Chica Wetlands: An Inspiring Documentary About Passion, Patience And Perseverance

Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a nonprofit environmental organization based in Huntington Beach CA, turns 40 this year. The story of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica is as rich as the land itself. In 1976, a group of mothers, teachers, engineers, scientists and students banded together with a mission to protect 2,000 acres in Huntington Beach from being developed.

They spent the next forty years of their lives fighting to restore the Bolsa Chica, one of the largest preserved coastal wetlands in North America. Today, with just 10% of California’s coastal wetlands remaining, the Amigos look back at how, despite many obstacles, a group of ordinary citizens succeeded in carrying out an extraordinary mission.

This inspiring true story raises a fundamental question - do we save nature, or does nature save us?

The 30 min screening was followed by a Q&A with film producer and marine scientist Joana Tavares-Reager, Amigos Founding Member and former Huntington Beach mayor Shirley Dettloff and Amigos President Jerry Donohue.