Key Strategies - California/Baja California

© Doug Steakley

Although a relatively high proportion of the mediterranean region of the Californias is protected, that protection is not well distributed across systems. Rapid population growth, tourism, and agriculture threatens many natural communities, especially wetland and woodland ecosystems. Little formal protection has yet been achieved in the Baja California portion of the region. Key strategies for conservation include land and water protection, legislation and policy, and raising public funds.

Strategies for Conservation

Land and Water Protection

Along California’s central coast, there are still opportunities to apply conservation strategies across large landscapes. In the more highly developed south coast, in contrast, the emphasis is on maintaining connectivity among fragmented habitat patches. Private land conservation is essential, and conservation easements are a key strategy towards this end.  Easements are voluntary agreements between landowners and land trusts or government agencies that acquire interests in the property. Landowners restrict certain types of land use and in return can receive a payment and/or a tax reduction.

In Baja California, conservation focused non-governmental organizations are developing and implementing new mechanisms for private, communally, and publicly-owned lands and resources.  Their recent successes include a binational conservation easement on private lands (pioneered by Pronatura Noroeste and Fundación la Puerta), a conservation contract on communally owned “ejido” land (by Terra Peninsular), and encumbrance of development rights on coastal wetlands within public jurisdiction (by coalitions including Proesteros A.C.).  Federal, state and municipal government agencies can decree areas for the protection of natural resources. Of all the Mexican states, Baja California supports the largest area of government-decreed protected land (White et al. in press) including two national parks within the mediterranean region, the Parque Nacional Sierra de San Pedro Mártir and the Parque Nacional Constitución de 1857.  However, both of these parks occur in higher elevation habitats, leaving unique habitats of the lowlands and foothills still underrepresented in the protected area network.

Law and Policy

Conservation efforts in California benefit from a range of federal and state legislation. At the federal level, this includes NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act), and ESA (Endangered Species Act). At the California state level, CESA (California Endangered Species Act), NCCP (Natural Community Conservation Planning), and CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) all play critical roles in the conservation of biodiversity. Development projects, permitting requirements, and other environmental regulations must go through CEQA review. If a project will cause significant adverse impacts to natural resources or endangered or threatened species, steps must be taken to mitigate these impacts, such as protecting equivalent habitat on or off-site.  NCCP is a comprehensive land-use planning framework which allows local jurisdictions to plan for conservation while also allowing for economic growth; a conservation reserve network is designed and then regulatory and market mechanisms are integrated into the development process to incentivize the protection of the reserve.

In Baja California, federal and state environmental laws (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente and Ley de Protección al Ambiente para el Estado de Baja California) mandate environmental impact studies for any development project. If the project is found to have negative environmental consequences, the developer is required to take actions which minimize the impact. 

Conservation Finance

In California, one of the most successful methods of raising public funds for conservation is to take the request directly to the voters through a ballot initiative. Since 1996, through the passage of 6 propositions (Propositions 12, 13, 50, 204 and 84), Californians have directed over $6 billion in state funding to conservation efforts, including land acquisition, habitat restoration and enhancement, coast and watershed protection, and expansion of the state park system. These funds are administered in large part by state agencies such as the Wildlife Conservation Board, the Coastal Conservancy and California Bay-Delta Authority.  The ballot-initiative strategy has also been successful on a local scale, with many California counties voting to tax themselves in order to fund conservation in their own areas.