RIVERSIDE, Calif. - (Business Wire) The Riverside Land Conservancy this week awarded Ali Sahabi with its Beverly Maloof Environmental Excellence Award, an honor bestowed upon the Southern California developer for his work promoting sustainable development and the advancement of green technology. Sahabi was one of two Inland Empire residents honored by the conservancy at its annual meeting June 17. Also receiving the award was Mary Lou Morales, a retired teacher for 30 years with the Alvord Unified School District, a former planning commissioner for the city of Riverside, and longtime advocate for environmental and community causes in inland Southern California.
Sahabi is the master developer of Dos Lagos, a mixed-use community in Corona, California, and winner of the California Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for Sustainable Communities. He is also the founding chairman of the Green Valley Initiative, www.greenvalleynow.org, a regional and collaborative venture to promote clean and green technologies in the Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Dos Lagos was built on the site of an abandoned silica mine, which had scarred the landscape and severely degraded the Temescal Creek that flows through the property. Among many other environmental tasks associated with the project, Sahabi reclaimed the land and restored the creek to make it part of the upscale community’s extensive natural habitat areas.
“Ali is a green visionary, whose dedication to the Inland Empire through the Green Valley Initiative, the restoration of Temescal Creek and adherence to LEED standards in building ensures a brighter future for our region and a higher quality of life for all,” said Robert A. Nelson, Riverside Land Conservancy president.
Gail Egenes, executive director of the RLC, praised Sahabi for taking a balanced approach in nearly everything he does. “He has shown, through example, that life’s greatest accomplishments come through collaboration – working with nature and community to ensure the best results for all concerned,” she said.
Jane Block, of the RLC Board of Directors, added, “Ali’s unwavering commitment to the environment is admirable. As a developer, a regional leader and philanthropist, he leads by example.”
Riverside Land Conservancy is a nonprofit land trust that works with landowners who would like to see their lands preserved. By facilitating the transfer of land from willing private landowners to public ownership, RLC helps to ensure that natural lands, wildlife habitat and working farm lands are preserved for future generations.
Green Valley Initiative
Ali Sahabi, Founding Chairman
951-667-6200
or
Riverside Land Conservancy
Gail Egenes, Executive Director
951-788-0670
