Tohono Chul is on the frontlines of climate change as a garden located in the Sonoran Desert, a region experiencing an increase in average temperatures, habitat fragmentation, and the spread of invasive plant and animal species. All of these factors make it critical for gardens in our region to demonstrate best practices to our visitors to positively influence the sustainability of our community.

Our organization is a 49-acre accredited botanical garden and arboretum with 6.5 acres of cultivated gardens, 2 acres of heavily landscaped parking lot space, with most of the remaining 40.5 acres consisting of open desert space with dirt walking paths. We are an urban greenspace located in one of the most densely populated portions of Pima County, Arizona.

Tohono Chul is already a leader in using native plant species with 178 of the 933 taxa on site having a distribution that includes Arizona, and with the majority of the remaining taxa having a distribution that encompasses the US-Mexico Borderlands. We have developed a living collections charter that orients our garden towards cultivating native plants on grounds and selling exclusively native species (Defined as occurring in the US-Mexico Borderlands) at our retail nursery.

In the last three years we have reduced our water usage by over 25% through a combination of taking areas off irrigation and replacing all sprayer systems with highly efficient drip irrigation connected to smart clocks that allow us to adjust schedules with changing temperatures and rainfall conditions. We operate a bistro on site that is focused on serving locally-inspired cuisine and one of our goals is to achieve at least 10% locally purchased ingredients. We supply a large percentage of our power via solar arrays allowing us to produce most of our electricity on site.

We feel our best way to make a difference is demonstrating home-scale techniques like active water harvesting, solar energy, native landscaping, and local food use to our community.