The Sanctuary Forest is a non-profit conservation land trust in the Mattole River headwaters on the northern California coast in the United States of America.
[3] Sanctuary Forest began in 1987 within the temperate rainforest of the headwaters of the Matto Le River, on the northern California coast.
Community members who aimed to preserve the 2,000-year-old redwood "Big Red", which was scheduled for cutting by industrial timberland owners, launched Sanctuary Forest's first campaign to save the tree.
The origin of this organization is based on the beliefs of the Redwoods Monastery, a group of Cistercian monastic women, who educated their communities about the severe environmental threats of logging.
[11] The Collaboration Program unifies different perspectives with the same purpose of keeping the Mattole watershed healthy, through the creation of partnerships to promote conservation and responsible management of the environment.