Shruti Chandrasekhar, our chapter's 30x30 Taskforce Coordinator, brought good news from the 30x30 Partnership Summit held at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco on September 29th. California now has added more than 3.5 million acres of conserved lands and coastal waters since 2022. This is an area larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined! It also means that California is more than halfway toward its 30x30 goal of conserving 30% of the state land by 2030.
At the summit, Governor Newsom signed an important package of conservation legislation strengthening protections against offshore drilling, making the popular State Parks Library Pass permanent, codifying our Outdoors for All initiative, strengthening wildlife connectivity and coexistence, and extending tools for habitat restoration.
California's 30x30 initiative has continued to advance amid federal rollbacks and is on track to reach 30% land conservation by 2030, though coastal waters need a larger additional push. Additionally the Summit featured 30x30 in Action field trips showcasing how, as strategies, tribal stewardship, restoration, urban conservation, and state-local partnerships are increasingly important.
A few of our recent 30x30 conservation wins close to home include the Sargent Ranch (Rancho Juristac) Protection by Peninsula Open Space Trust, the Coyote Valley expansion by both the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority and Peninsula Open Space Trust, and making the Diablo Range a California Conservation Priority as sponsored by Save Mount Diablo.
Protecting Natural Resources Protects the Climate. Onward 30x30!