On October 11th and 12th, the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) hosted their annual 30x30 Partnership Gathering in Riverside, California. This annual event allows folks to connect and learn about the progress made towards conserving 30% of statewide lands and coastal waters by the year 2030.
The Power in Nature Coalition, which seeks to band together environmental groups, tribal organizations, community groups, and land trusts to further 30x30 in the state of California, had a large presence at the event. The Coalition, of which EPIC is a part, helped co-host the ‘Success Stories Showcase’ that happened on the first day of the event. EPIC helped represent the Coalition’s Far Northern Regional Group and presented some of the most fascinating 30x30 stories from all over our region. CalTrout's Bull Creek Habitat Restoration, Trout Unlimited's recently completed North Coast Coho Projects and Smith River Alliance's Lake Earl Wildlife Area were all showcased as recently completed or nearly completed 30x30 successes at our table. These projects highlighted the vast range of funding, permitting, and protection mechanisms that can be used to leverage the power of partnerships in order to protect biodiversity, build climate resilience, advance equity, and improve access to nature.
Presenting these projects at Riverside gave EPIC the opportunity to network with countless other organizations doing conservation work. These connections are important so that we can collaborate to reach our statewide 30x30 goal, including better tracking our conservation projects and filling advocacy gaps in various parts of our region.
As of May 2023, we’ve conserved 24.4% of land and 16.2% of coastal waters in California. In the past year, we have added approximately 631,000 acres of conserved land, and we need to increase our rate of conservation to meet our goal of 30x30.