In an impressive meeting of the heads and representatives of environmental departments and agencies, the California 30×30 Partnership Summit was held on October 3, 2024, in Sacramento. Co-hosted by CNRA, this celebration convened tribal liaisons, government representatives, and community collaborators toward the fulfilment of the unprecedented goal of protecting 30 by 30 in California.
The summit focused on three key themes: to inform, encourage, and incorporate the many ideas and to focus on cooperation to protect California’s ecology. Although the occasion generally discussed conservation, it was possible to focus on the defense and sustainable use of marine habitats and the part of tribes and coastal societies.
Jenn Eckerle, CNRA Deputy Secretary for Oceans and Coastal Policy and OPC Executive Director, talks about the importance of the summit and has the following to say: “The 30×30 Summit was all about celebrating the importance of partnership.” Together we can make CA great by promoting the goal and vision of conserving the state’s ecological systems so that a resilient system of healthy ecosystems can exist for on-shore plus off-shore habitats.
Speakers included U.S. Senator Alex Padilla and California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, indicating the political pay attention to the state’s objectives. Special interest was opened to various organizations and tribal nations, among which Rosa Laucci from the Tolowa Dee-Ni Nation Marine Programme contributed their insight on the topics being discussed.
Among the decisions made during the Hi-Lite 2021, there was the presentation of the 30×30 Annual Report on further development of the state’s conservation goals. It has coordinated and documented challenges and achievements of the previous year to establish direction for future conservation strategies.
At the same time, the Ocean Protection Council (OPC), which coordinated the summit and advanced the state’s environmental objectives, revealed two major job positions. The first job opening is the Offshore Wind Tribal Affairs and Community Engagement Specialist position, with the application closing on the 11th of October 2024. This position will be instrumental in providing leadership in the coordination of integrated state agencies, California Native American tribes, and coastal communities for the establishment of offshore wind projects.
The second job opening is that of a Water Quality Programme Manager for an application by October 18, 2024. This environmental scientist will take on OPC’s major responsibilities concerning water quality and decision-making on how to minimize the effects of various sources of pollution, such as plastics, ocean acidification, and algae blooms.
These job openings demonstrate that California is ready to effectively tackle these issues and involves all the stakeholders in that process. The state wishes to avoid leaving out the relevant aspects of conservation to automate it because the process will target everyone including the tribes, the community, and water quality specialists.
The summit also discussed the increasingly critically challenging problem of stranding of marine mammals in the Californian coast. Strandings have been reported from 2022 up to 2024 and mainly involving sea lions, dolphins, and otters. The main cause of this worrying trend is domoic acid; a bi-toxin that is produced by HABs species of algae.
Even in low concentrations, domoic acid is particularly toxic to marine mammals; it actually targets their CNS, and an outcome of this exposure is death. In response, the state agencies have been introducing different strategies for the prevention of the effects of HABs and endangered marine life.
It therefore becomes important to organise such cross sectoral convenings such as the California 30×30 summit to advance its efforts as it moves towards realisation of the 30×30 goal. Since the decision-maker is actively protected by ordinary citizens and experts, including the protection of land and sea areas, the state’s approach to environmental protection is an example for other states.
It is, therefore, clear that the state has not relented in its endeavors to conserve natural resources, hence the success of the California 30×30 Partnership Summit and the ongoing goals. In this regard, the state of California remains committed to the noble cause in a fight to conserve the environment through the achievement of new goals and strategies that have informed not only new policies but also bottom-up innovations for improvement.
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