The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy was founded in 1988 by a group of concerned area residents to preserve open space on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The Conservancy has been very successful through the years, preserving open space by working with local and county government.

The amazing Portuguese Bend Nature Preserve was created in 2005 when the community was able to purchase 468 critical acres to include within the Preserve. The newly-purchased land was combined with previously-preserved land and City land to create the new Preserve.

In 2006 the Land Conservancy will complete baseline documentation and monitoring for rare plants and wildlife in the Preserve. In 2007 a habitat restoration plan will be completed to identify the five-acre parcels that will be restored during the following three years. Working with a community committee, the City and the Conservancy will also complete the Public Use Master Plan (PUMP) for the Preserve.

The area will be managed by the Conservancy for ecological values, habitat restoration and public access. In order to manage the larger Preserve, it has been divided into ten smaller Ecological Reserves. The names were recommended by the PUMP Committee, and will be presented to the RPV City Council for approval as part of the PUMP process.