Media & Press

A Coastal Ally

The California Central Coast is a vast region made up of rolling hills, lush pacific terraces and rugged coastal canyons that all dramatically meet the majestic Pacific Ocean.  It is a place of amazing diversity and ecosystems that are rich in marine and terrestrial wildlife. The unique geology along the coasts create some of the most beautiful coastal vistas in the world and is a place that inspires its inhabitants to revel in its beauty and enjoy its bounty. This visceral and physical relationship to our home inspires locals to protect its uniqueness, preserve its abundance and assure that future generations can appreciate and thrive in this paradise we call home. This is “old California” pristine and reminiscent of decades past....a California that inspires a different way of life; one that encourages locals to invest their energy and focus into protecting the coastline through careful planning and regulation of environmentally sustainable development, rigorous use of science, strong public participation, education, effective intergovernmental coordination, and the willingness to take a stand for our environment. 

Meet Mandy Davis, one of those willing to take a stand for our environment. A local naturalist and guide. and a natural born activist who has invested her life into standing on the soap box and fighting for Mother Nature and her beloved Central Coast

For Mandy, her activism and her chosen profession are a direct result of her personal intention...to experience and share her love for the Earth and her creatures, and to share that knowledge in a way that inspires others to act on the Earth's behalf. Her passion for speaking up for the environment is just who she is, its a sort of “ethical imperative” that drives her to be a powerhouse activist.  Let’s face it Mother Nature doesn’t have a voice and she needs our help.  Mandy comes from the school of, “We have a choice.  We have a voice!”.  A motto she has lived by her whole life and will do so until she places her last step on this earth and literally worships the ground she walks on.  For Mandy, it is the importance of making every step count and she does this with intentions of preserving the earth everyday she is alive.

Sometimes having eccentric and unique relatives can be a real benefit as one is growing up, and in Mandy's case this is absolutely true! She can attribute many of her attitudes and interests to her close relationship with her father, an avid outdoorsman, and a research chemist and inventor in Palo Alto California, and her paternal grandmother who was a mixed blood woman of eclectic attitudes and a deep respect for the earth and its teachings...both were prone to hysterical use of unusual euphemisms, and cooking and eating the most ungodly assortment of foods imaginable!! Growing up in the backwoods of the Shawnee National Forest made them hardy and reliant on their daily observations in the wild. The information they shared with Mandy on camping, paddling and hiking trips (including huge doses of tough love and lessons in independence) sparked her natural interests and served to guide her on her life's path. The wonderful adventures she had canoeing and camping with her father led to a lifetime of competitive paddling and exploring wilderness in some of the most beautiful and remote places on earth.   

This patiently taught love and respect for the earth and all her relations, whether they inhabit land, air, or water, has been the underlying force driving Mandy’s decisions and the choices in career and activities throughout her life. Trained in biology formally, she has taken her varied interests and has allowed them to guide her into work as a tech writer, marketing director for two high tech companies in California and Florida, a creative director for an ad agency, fitness director for three health clubs and a lifetime advocate of fitness and health as a coach, trainer, and guide. All of these jobs helped to shape her personality and beliefs, but it is her family and relationship with her two sons that has taught her the most. Her devotion to and love for her two boys has treated her to the valuable life’s lesson of what it is to care for a living being and to love unconditionally. That unconditional love is the most profoundly human experience one can have and is, for Mandy, the most beautiful gift a generous universe could give. It is such a blessing to have her two sons so near, one in Santa Cruz and the other in Gardena. So easy to visit and maintain close ties!

After decades of living on her sailboat on the Morro Bay National Estuary, Mandy currently lives on her “land yacht” (her neighbors call it Gilligans Island); a tiny home that is off the grid that enables her to have a small footprint and live as sustainably as possible...growing food, reusing gray water and harvesting rain for personal use. Life on her sailboat was a lifestyle she will never forget and treated her to the experience of being entirely self sufficient, and reliant at the same time on the ocean's cycles and patterns. This close relationship to the Morro Bay Estuary and her experiences on the world’s oceans as a direct-action activist, have given her insights and knowledge that surpasses any formal education that has been available to her in the academic world.

After a lifetime of environmental activism, Mandy has observed that It is no less than miraculous what can happen if humans can put aside their differences, get past their egos and look to the common thread between them.. The power of a unified group of diverse individuals is undeniable and a force that can be daunting if focused, and successful when implemented. It is this spirit of unity and recognition of a common goal to work towards that has driven the efforts to positively impact our oceans and has, in the recent past, successfully protected our oceans from outside and corporate threats. Mandy has been influential in organizing just such a group called the COAST Alliance, that among other players, helped end the threat of offshore seismic testing. Currently she is a part of the important effort to designate our offshore area between Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary and the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary as the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary; a designation that will be crucial in the future, protecting our marine economy, habitats and our children's coastal legacy! Everyone on the Central Coast can get behind something that will preserve our rich marine environment for future generations, and all that it implies. 

It is Mandy's personal goal to continue to work towards teaching people about the amazing place we call home, the Central Coast, for as long as she is able. It is with that goal in mind that she recently started her own custom/private adventure tour company, Wildheart Coastal Adventures. www.wildheartcoastaladventures.com Decades of experience as a guide/naturalist locally and internationally, a lifetime of traveling and learning, and a keen interest in all that nature has to teach us, make her an informed and entertaining guide. It is her pleasure and intention to introduce visitors and locals alike to the wonders of kayaking and hiking the varied ecosystems in this region! Her tag line for the company is: YOU DREAM IT.... WE MAKE IT HAPPEN!! After all, the central coast IS an amazing place of diversity and beauty, and an adventure enthusiast's dream come true!  

A very wise conservationist said.

"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught." (Baba Dioum, 1968.)

It is Mandy's hope that she can in some way teach people to love, understand and conserve our beautiful and living Earth. “We have a voice. We have a choice!”