Environmental Nature Center   

In 1972, teachers, students, and community volunteers transformed an abandoned gully beside Newport Harbor High School into a vibrant environmental education center. Since then, the Environmental Nature Center (ENC) has become a 5-acre campus in Newport Beach, offering hands-on, environmental-based science education to over 51,000 people each year. The campus showcases 15 California native plant communities, walking trails, fossil specimen areas, a butterfly house, an amphitheater, and a Compost Learning Lab. Enhancing these outdoor spaces is the 8,500-square-foot Learning Center and Museum, the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Certified building in Orange County when it opened in 2008—a testament to our enduring commitment to sustainable design. Each year, the ENC engages community members through diverse programs, including school field trips, Traveling Naturalist visits, nature camps, community events, and professional development workshops. Furthering our mission, as a model for ecological responsibility, the ENC was recently awarded TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) Platinum Certification by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), recognizing our outstanding zero waste performance. The ENC diverts over 97% or more of its waste from the landfill. Through sustainable waste management practices, the ENC prioritizes waste reduction, resource conservation, and public health benefits, continuing its leadership in sustainable practices. Since opening in 2019, the ENC Nature Preschool—Orange County’s first nature-based preschool and also LEED Platinum certified—has served as a model in early childhood education, offering STEM and nature-based learning to 72 children daily. The ENC Nature Preschool additionally achieved Petal Certification from the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge, an ambitious and holistic green building performance program. This achievement places ENC Nature Preschool among only 54 projects worldwide to reach this level, and it is the first in Orange County and the third in Southern California. The ENC’s reach expanded further in 2021 with the acquisition of Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary, a 12-acre property in Modjeska Canyon with a natural history museum, trails, and bird observation areas. Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary enables us to extend field trips, nature camps, and community programs to even more people in the region. As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, the ENC remains dedicated to environmental education, sustainable practices, and preserving natural spaces. For more information, call 949-645-8489 or visit www.ENCenter.org.