Those of us lucky enough to live in California know that our state is a biodiversity hotspot. We hold an amazing array of distinctive flora and fauna here, as California is blessed with serpentine outcrops, redwood forests, its peaks, mountains, deserts, and a vast coastline. The Nature Conservancy garnered data in 2000 to show that California has more endemic plant species – over one-third of its plants than any other state in the nation. An endemic plant is one that grows nowhere else. Endemic to California are manzanita species, California buckeye, redwoods, and more.
Back in October 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a plan called ’30×30′, which was spearheaded by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, with the global goal of living in harmony with nature to conserve sites that help our state build climate resilience. The goal that gave the plan its name is the call to action to conserve 30% of the planet by the year 2030, or 30×30.
No one knows more than those of us who live in Lake County that the wealth of some of these unique ecosystems is suffering and in decline, with many plant and animal species threatened. With the biodiversity threats wound up in the climate crisis, the 30×30 effort to stop the loss of plants, animals and habitat here and across the globe have become imperative.
Our esteemed Lake County Land Trust has made it their goal to ‘conserve land and water resources that hold important cultural, historic, scenic and environmental value for our future generations.’ It was announced on November 1, 2024, by the California Council of Land Trusts that our hard-working Land Trust was the recipient of a grant with the purpose of “Building the capacity of the Lake County Land Trust to construct a pathway for conservation success.” Hats off to the Lake County Land Trust who have been working for over 30 years ‘to protect the natural environment of Lake County’ as a non-governmental, charitable, non-profit, community-based organization.
Of the many, many organizations who are working to protect California’s renowned plant diversity is the California Native Plant Society (CNPS). The California Native Plant Society works diligently to ‘save and celebrate California’s native plants’ since they are the foundation of our varied ecosystems. Since our state needs an adequate vegetation and plant data list, the CNPS finished a regional Important Plant Area model for California that tells of rare species and culturally significant plants, and lists important vegetation communities, native species, and other abiotic habitat characteristics like geology and soils. Lake County’s chapter of the California Native Plant Society is the Sanhedrin, named after Sanhedrin Mountain, a 1,182 feet in elevation mountain in the Mendocino National Forest that houses the northern spotted owl, its nesting sites, and many more valuable animals and plants.
We can’t know what our future holds, but the complex 30×30 endeavor holds great conservation promise both here in Lake County and throughout California to address wildfires, flooding, drought, and sea level rise. We also understand that constant change that breeds uncertainty is something that we need to work with since now, more than ever, it surrounds us. It’s going to take mindful purpose and heartfelt work of the diverse population in our community and state, along with their unique views and fact-based scientific measures. In order to keep our eye on the ball, let’s lean on one another.
