What does the global 30x30 pledge mean for Western public lands?

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Pronghorn in sagebrush steppe near the Wind River Range, Wyoming, U.S. Geological Survey

At the conclusion of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, almost 200 countries reached an agreement to protect 30 percent of the planet by 2030 in hopes of preventing irrecoverable biodiversity loss and catastrophic ecosystem collapse.

While the United States is not a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the treaty that is the basis of the conference, the 30x30 pledge is in line with the Biden administration's America the Beautiful Initiative, which set the goal of conserving 30 percent of the nation's lands and waters by 2030. "Together with our international partners, we can cultivate a global ecosystem where biodiversity flourishes, lands and waters are protected, and people have equitable access to all of nature’s benefits. Under President Biden’s leadership, the United States will continue our progress towards broad, equitable, and strong environmental stewardship, with continued global cooperation as our shared goal," Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory said in a statement.

Western public lands host a wide variety of ecosystems and species, and will play a critical role in helping the U.S. reach its 30x30 goal and in preventing biodiversity collapse. But the clock is ticking, and the Biden administration will need to pursue executive conservation actions over the next two years to show progress towards this goal.

Executive conservation action can achieve meaningful protections for landscapes and habitats, and is overwhelmingly popular with the public. The Center for Western Priorities' Road to 30 Postcards series tells the stories of landscapes that deserve protection and can help the nation reach the 30x30 goal. Many protection proposals have languished in Congress for years, as highlighted in the Center for Western Priorities' recent report, Languishing Lands. With the world united behind the 30x30 goal, Westerners are ready to see real progress.

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                            Quote of the day
                        

We have been on a rapid path of destruction of nature for hundreds of years, and this can mark a turning point.”

—Brian O'Donnell, Director of Campaign for Nature, Washington Post

                            Picture this
                        

@GrandCanyonNPS

"What about that shadowy place?" "That's beyond our borders. You must never go there." Grand Canyon's elk live in the ponderosa and pinyon-juniper forests on the South Rim. They will not typically venture below the rim, and certainly not to the shadowed area deep in the canyon.