Same Planet. Different World.

You are in that dry, hot, empty, hostile, deserted, dead wasteland of a place called “the desert.”
Or are you?
Our website gives one a tour through The Living Desert and the deserts of the world you are about to embark on will show you how language has misled everyone into thinking of the desert as a surly, outlaw landscape instead of a fragile, interesting ecosystem. You’ll see remarkable plants, animals, places and natural phenomena associated with deserts and learn how The Living Desert is helping to interpret and protect them.

You will also find out about one of the most unusual institutions in the United States. There isn’t a single word to describe all that The Living Desert is and does. We must string words together, like beads: zoo and endangered species conservation center – botanical gardens – natural history museum – wilderness park – nature preserve – education center. The thread that holds all the beads together is the word “desert.”