Wildlife Branch - Wildlife Diversity Program

Program Overview

CDFW’s Wildlife Diversity Program protects and conserves native terrestrial and freshwater amphibians, birds, mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates in California. We work to conserve California's rich biodiversity, including its most vulnerable wildlife—Threatened and Endangered species and Species of Special Concern—through monitoring and assessment, conservation and recovery planning, scientific research permitting, species and habitat management, regulatory protections, research, and outreach.

The subject matter experts in the Wildlife Diversity Program engage with partners across the state, country, and internationally to carry out our objectives. We leverage partnerships with tribal governments, state and federal agencies, land managers, non-governmental organizations, academic partners, and the general public to provide leadership that supports conservation of native wildlife and the habitats upon which it depends.

Mission

Our mission is to conserve the rich diversity of California's native wildlife, which includes tens of thousands of terrestrial invertebrates and more than 1,000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.

Key Resources

Our Work

Monitoring and Assessment

We conduct monitoring and research on wildlife species and communities, including their response to climate change, wildfire, drought, and land uses. We coordinate the statewide conservation and management of gray wolves and bobcats

Scientific Research Permiting

We issue Scientific Collecting Permits and Memorandums of Understanding for scientific research, educational activities, management, and/or the propagation of native wildlife. This includes species listed under CESA and Fully Protected species.

California Endangered Species Act

We evaluate petitions that are submitted to the Fish and Game Commission to list species under CESA. For candidate species, we prepare comprehensive status reviews to inform whether species should be listed. We also conduct five-year reviews and develop recovery plans for listed species.

Conservation and Recovery

We protect native biodiversity and promote ecosystem resiliency through actions that help recover species listed as threatened or endangered under the CESA, and through actions to conserve Species of Special Concern (SSC) and Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) to prevent the need for future listings.