SACRAMENTO, Calif. – As summer brings waves of visitors to California’s beaches and coastline, members of the State Assembly debated Tuesday how the state can keep more of its ocean heritage safe. The Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee voted 10:1 to pass ACR-210, a resolution introduced by Assemblymember Steve Bennett that calls on state agencies to prioritize creating new marine protected areas as they implement the state’s 30×30 goals.
“Strengthening our MPA network is one of the best opportunities we have to protect our state’s biodiversity and increase resilience to climate change impacts. Azul has long advocated that the pursuit of a 30×30 goal must address the disproportionate burden placed on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color to ensure that everyone has access to the ocean and its benefits,” said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Founder and Executive Director of Azul, and a leading witness at the hearing. “In strengthening its MPA network, California will continue setting a global standard for equitable coastal access and effective marine conservation measures to soundly realize the goals of the 30×30 initiative.”
Marine protected areas, like state parks on land, are designed to conserve marine life and habitats. Science from around the globe and in California has found that highly- and fully-protected habitats – areas off-limits to most or all destructive human activities – deliver the greatest benefits to the health of marine ecosystems.. California’s existing state MPA network, which has been in place for over a decade, is undergoing its first-ever adaptive management process, with Indigenous leaders, along with environmental and community groups bringing forward proposals that would expand these protections to new, critical coastal habitats.
“From sea otters to Garibaldi, the California state fish, kelp forests host a vibrant array of life and play a critical role supporting ocean health and human livelihoods.” said Dr. Nur Arafeh Dalmau, Postdoctoral Scholar at the Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford University, “While parts of California’s kelp forests have taken a beating, we are lucky enough to have some resilient kelp areas left – we need to protect them while we can.”
Following the hearing, the resolution was passed out of Committee 10-1. If passed by the Assembly, this resolution would further the state’s commitment to ocean conservation and resilience in the face of changing ocean conditions.
“Over a decade ago, California invested in protecting the health of our ocean life and our coastal communities when it established our network of state Marine Protected Areas,” said Assemblymember Bennett. “Now, we have a chance to once again lead the globe in marine protections and ensure our state’s coastline has the best possible chance to survive and thrive in the rapidly changing seas to come.”