The Big Sur Land Trust is a private 501(c)(3) non-profit located in Monterey, California, that has played an instrumental role in preserving land in California's Big Sur and Central Coast regions. The trust was the first to conceive of and use the "conservation buyer" method in 1989 by partnering with government and developers to offer tax benefits as an inducement to sell land at below-market rates. Since 1978, with the support of donors, funders and partners, it has conserved over 40,000 acres through conservation easements, acquisition and transfer of land to state, county and city agencies. It has placed conservation easements on 7,000 acres and has retained ownership of over 4,000 acres.

The Santa Lucia Preserve or The Preserve is a private, 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) gated development permitting 297 homesites. It is located in the foothills of the Santa Lucia Range between Palo Corona Regional Park and Carmel Valley, California. The Preserve consists of a 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) nature reserve, 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) of open land, and 2,000 acres (810 ha) for development. It contains most of the watershed of Las Garzas Creek, a tributary of the Carmel River.