California’s natural and working lands, including our forests, rangelands, urban green spaces, wetlands, and farms, are home to the most diverse sources of food, fiber, and renewable energy in the country. They underpin the State’s water supply and support clean air, wildlife habitat, and local and regional economies. They are also the frontiers of climate change. They are often the first to experience the impacts of climate change, and they must be part of the solution to addressing climate change and its impacts. In short, in order to achieve our long-term climate goals, natural and working lands must play a key role.
These diverse and unique land types provide important and significant environmental and public health benefits to the State, supporting clean air, wildlife and pollinator habitat, recreation, and vibrant economies. Although natural and working lands can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester it in soil and vegetation, disturbances such as severe wildfire, land degradation, and conversion can cause these landscapes to emit more carbon dioxide than they store.
It is becoming increasingly clear that California’s natural and working lands are not healthy and that the critical ecosystem services they provide, including their ability to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, are at risk. Actions to protect, restore, and sustainably manage the health and resiliency of these lands can greatly accelerate our progress to mitigate climate change and our ability to reduce worsening climate change impacts.
California’s 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan Updateemphasized the critical role that managing our natural and working lands to further reduce greenhouse gases and maintain them as a resilient carbon sink has in complementing the measures described in the Scoping Plan. California has also developed a draftNatural and Working Lands Implementation Planto evaluate a range of implementation scenarios for natural and working lands and to identify long-term sequestration goals that can be incorporated into future climate policy.
California continues to evaluate existing and potential state-supported conservation, restoration, and management actions identified in the draft Natural and Working Lands Implementation Plan, while also holding public workshops on achieving resilient natural and working lands and their role in helping the State achieve its longer-term climate goals.
FAQs
What is a Natural And Working Lands Strategy? A natural working lands strategy seeks to increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in and on farms, forests, grasslands, wetlands, and urban lands.
What are working lands? ›
Working lands are the rangelands, farms and forestlands used to support livelihoods.
What is the California Natural and Working Lands implementation plan? ›
It aims to coordinate all natural and working lands programs under a united approach that will move us toward our combined goal of maintaining a resilient carbon sink and improved air and water quality, water quantity, wildlife habitat, recreation, and other benefits.
What is the NC Natural and Working Lands Plan? ›
The North Carolina Natural and Working Lands Action Plan, part of the North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan, was created in response to Executive Order 80 to identify opportunities for North Carolina's natural and working lands (NWL), including farms, forests, and wetlands, to sequester carbon, ...
What is the strategic plan for natural and working lands in Colorado? ›
The Strategic Plan for Natural and Working Lands was a priority action in the 2021 Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap and is meant to drive a broader strategic vision. The plan represents Colorado's first coordinated effort to address greenhouse gas emissions from natural and working lands.
What is the Sage Grouse initiative? ›
The Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI) was launched in 2010 as a new paradigm for conserving at-risk wildlife and western rangelands. SGI works through voluntary cooperation, science-based strategies and community support.
What does land resources do? ›
Land resources are one of nature's most precious gifts. They feed us and help our societies and economies to thrive.
What are people who work on the land called? ›
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock.
What is a natural resource for California? ›
California's prosperity is due, in part, to the wealth of geological resources available. This includes the availability of water supplies, mineral deposits, petroleum, metal, and even tourism revenue generated by the state's geological features.
What is the new California environmental policy? ›
Senate Bill 1497 (Menjivar) (“SB 1497”) introduces the Polluters Pay Climate Cost Recovery Act of 2024 (“2024 Act”), which aims to hold fossil fuel polluters accountable for the environmental damage caused by their products during the period of time between 2000 to 2020, aiming to support California's broader climate ...
California's Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Program helps to fight climate change by reducing California's greenhouse gas pollution. Cap-and-Trade was designed by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to achieve the goals of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32).
What are the land natural resources in economics? ›
Land resources are the raw materials in the production process. These resources can be renewable, such as forests, or nonrenewable such as oil or natural gas. The income that resource owners earn in return for land resources is called rent. The second factor of production is labor.
What is the land sparing strategy? ›
Land-sparing involves managing land for farming and nature separately, and is often associated with intensive farming methods. Land-sharing involves the use of wildlife-friendly farming to share farmland with nature.
What is the State Lands Commission strategic plan? ›
The 2021-2025 Strategic Plan addresses key issues including public access, climate change and sea-level rise, environmental justice, tribal relations, sustainable economic development, and environmental protection.
