By Jora Fogg, FOI Policy Director

Last month, in conjunction with Earth Day, the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) released their final Pathways to 30×30: Accelerating Conservation of California’s Nature strategy to forward the global effort to conserve 30 percent of lands and coastal waters by 2030 (30×30). The plan focuses on protecting the state’s biodiversity, advancing equitable access to nature and addressing the climate crisis.  

 The Pathways document was crafted by a dedicated team at CNRA through months of public engagement. More than 4,100 Californians engaged with the state to provide input through more than a dozen public meetings, regionally based workshops, expert topical panels on key concepts, such as equity and science, and comments on draft strategies. 

Friends of the Inyo has been engaging via a more local approach focused on the Sierra Nevada region identified in the Pathways appendices. While we are still reviewing the final document, we are pleased with some changes, such as a new push by the state to work more collaboratively with federal agencies and the Biden Administration’s America the Beautiful initiative to identify unprotected federal lands to conserve under 30×30. 

A flyer can be downloaded by clicking on the image.

The Pathways document is divided into six sections:

  1. Conservation framework
  2. 30×30 conservation areas (including how conservation areas are defined)
  3. Progress
  4. Actions 
  5. Strategy to achieve actions
  6. Regional insights (We recommend focusing here to read up on the Sierra Nevada and Inland Desert Regions)

The state estimates that 24 percent of California’s lands are already conserved. To conserve an additional 6 million acres of land by 2030, the report includes the following 10 Pathways:   

  1. Accelerate Regionally Led Conservation 
  2. Execute Strategic Land Acquisitions  
  3. Increase Voluntary Conservation Easements 
  4. Enhance Conservation of Existing Public Lands and Coastal Waters 
  5. Institutionalize Advance Mitigation 
  6. Expand and Accelerate Environmental Restoration and Stewardship 
  7. Strengthen Coordination Among Governments 
  8. Align Investments to Maximize Conservation Benefits 
  9. Advance and Promote Complementary Conservation Measures 
  10. Evaluate Conservation Outcomes and Adaptively Manage 

The state also released a publicly accessible suite of interactive mapping and visualization tools. CA Nature compiles statewide biodiversity, access, climate, and conservation information in one place to advance 30×30. This geographic information system (GIS) will support the implementation of 30×30 efforts at the state, regional and local levels. The website will be regularly updated to track and show progress.

Full Spanish translation for the final documents will be available soon.  

 The final Pathways strategy is available here.  

You can also take action now to help advance 30×30 across the Eastern Sierra.  Join the #30x30CA movement to protect California’s natural places and advance equity. Visit our partners at  PowerInNature.org/Take-Action to learn how, and see our #ProtectConglomerateMesa campaign highlighted!