Four years after unveiling an ambitious plan to preserve 30% of California’s coastal land and waters by 2030, state officials announced Monday that they are closing in on that goal.
Since the beginning of the so-called 30×30 Initiative, California has added nearly 1.5 million hectares – or about 2,350 square miles – of conservation land, according to a progress report from Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Natural Resources Agency.
In all, the report shows that California has now preserved 25.2% of land and 16.2% of coastal waters with a little more than five years until the deadline.
“In 2020, I signed an executive order to preserve 30% of California’s land and 30% of coastal waters by 2030,” Newsom said in a statement. “And four years into this effort, we are on track to reach this goal, with more than a quarter of our land protected. We will not stop working to protect California’s unparalleled natural beauty for generations to come.
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The goal of the 30×30 initiative goes beyond conservation. The plan also seeks to help restore biodiversity, expand access to nature and help mitigate and build resilience to climate change.
The initiative began in earnest in 2022 when officials published a detailed roadmap for the plan. The country added 631,000 hectares between April of that year and May 2023, and added 861,000 hectares since then, according to the report.
“It’s good that we passed the 25% threshold, and we also have more work to do,” said Wade Crowfoot, secretary of Natural Resources California. “We are really energized by the progress, and we are energized that there are so many entities that are partnering with us to actually go out there and preserve the place – whether it is the land trust or the tribe or the local government. We are on track, and it will require us to maintain the momentum , but this year is a huge step forward.
This year’s increase in acreage includes newly conserved areas through the return of ancestral land, land acquisition, new conservation easements and other methods, the report said.
The increase also includes hectares found to meet the definition of 30×30 after previously lacking sufficient data to consider the level of protection and management for biodiversity.
Among the biggest new results were the expansion of two national monuments – San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument – which increased protection for about 120,000 hectares of federal land.
California is also making progress toward that goal through its first ancestral land restitution effort, which provided $100 million in grant funding to return approximately 38,950 acres to Native communities. Among the recipients is the Hoopa Valley Tribe, which received funding to help reclaim about 10,300 acres of land in the Klamath River Watershed that was formerly managed by a timber trust.
The grant award is “an admission of past sin, a pledge of responsibility, and a commitment to a better future,” Newsom said in a statement at the time.
In addition, the country’s efforts to convert more than half of its 100 million hectares into multi-benefit landscapes that can absorb carbon and fight climate change will help achieve the 30×30 goals, officials said. These targets, known as nature-based solutions, include millions of hectares to be managed to reduce fire risk, protect water supplies and increase biodiversity, among other outcomes.
California’s plan helped pave the way for similar efforts at the national level, with states such as Nevada, South Carolina, Hawaii, Maine and New York now working on their own 30×30 targets.
But California has created the strongest definition in the world for protected areas under 30×30, Crowfoot said, which includes land and water protected in perpetuity and primarily for ecological benefits.
“I am really proud that California has not only established what we consider to be the strongest definition of 30×30, but also the most detailed road map to actually achieve it,” he said. “(The land) can have other benefits like public access, but primarily it should be protected for environmental benefits.”
In 2021, President Biden also unveiled a national version of the 30×30 plan known as the America the Beautiful Initiative, which has seen more than 41 million acres conserved, according to the White House.
But the California program also faces obstacles from the state’s tightening budget, which includes several cuts to the program this year as Newsom works to close a $45 billion deficit. The budget maintains $1.3 billion of the $1.6 billion previously allocated for 30×30.
Crowfoot said $1.3 billion still represents a major investment in conservation, and that the program also received boosts from federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act as well as many philanthropic interests, especially in efforts to return ancestral land.
And although the initiative is getting closer to its goals, the country still needs to conserve an additional 4.8 million acres and 500,000 acres of coastal waters to meet those commitments, the report said.
There are several plans and projects that can be implemented, Crowfoot said. Among them is a proposal to designate Chuckwalla National Monument in the eastern Coachella Valley, which would cover nearly 650,000 acres, including an expansion of Joshua Tree National Park by more than 17,000 acres.
And although the results of coastal waters have become far harder to come by, the proposed Chumash National Marine Sanctuary of California’s Central Coast has the potential to increase 30×30 results if management plans are found to meet the requirements of the program.
“I’m sure we can get there,” Crowfoot said of the 2030 goals, “but it’s going to depend on continuing to build this movement. It’s a global movement that we’re leading in California.
