30x30: Conserving 30% of California’s Coastal Waters by 2030

30×30: Conserving 30% of California’s Coastal Waters by 2030

What is 30×30?

In 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-82-20, which committed to conserving 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030 as part of a broader effort to fight climate change, protect biodiversity, and expand access to nature for all Californians. In 2022, the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) released Pathways to 30×30: Accelerating Conservation of California’s Nature, which details strategies and opportunities for achieving the 30×30 target.

How is conservation defined? How much of our coastal waters are already conserved?

Pathways provides the following definition of 30×30 Conservation Areas: “land and coastal water areas that are durably protected and managed to sustain functional ecosystems, both intact and restored, and the diversity of life that they support.” The Ocean Protection Council has adopted a Roadmap to Achieving 30×30 in California’s Coastal Waters that builds on Pathways and translates this definition into clear evaluation criteria. 30×30 Conservation Areas in coastal waters can take many forms. However, areas must have a high degree of ecological protection – meaning they must be conserved in a manner that maintains ecosystems and protects biodiversity – to contribute to 30×30.

OPC’s Roadmap recognizes tribal stewardship areas, marine protected areas (MPAs), and areas that are not MPAs, but are managed in ways that achieve significant biodiversity benefit, as 30×30 Conservation Areas in coastal waters. California currently stands at 21.9% of coastal waters conserved. We’re more than two-thirds of the way to our goal! But we’ll all need to work together to conserve an additional 275,000 acres of coastal waters by 2030.

For both lands and coastal waters, California is tracking progress toward the 30×30 goal via the CA Nature tool, a suite of interactive mapping and visualization tools compiling statewide biodiversity, access, climate, and conservation information.

What are the state’s strategies for achieving the 30×30 target in coastal waters?

OPC is spearheading the effort to conserve 30% of coastal waters by 2030, which, as detailed in the Roadmap, will require action across four fronts:

Sustain Ongoing Adaptive Management of Our State’s MPA Network

Adaptively managing our state’s MPAs to ensure they continue to provide strong protections for coastal and marine biodiversity, especially in the face of climate change.

Strengthen Biodiversity Conservation in National Marine Sanctuaries

Working with federal partners to identify threats to Sanctuary resources and opportunities to address these threats through strengthened protections and stewardship.

Support Tribally-Led Conservation

Partnering with California Native American tribes to advance Indigenous Marine Stewardship Areas and other efforts to restore and revitalize tribal stewardship of coastal and marine ecosystems.

Explore the Role of Other Coastal and Marine Designations in Conserving Biodiversity

Exploring the role of other area-based designations beyond the MPA network and National Marine Sanctuaries, including areas that are not formal MPAs, but may still provide effective conservation benefits in protecting coastal and ocean biodiversity.

Coming soon!

Funding Opportunity

Advancing 30×30 in Coastal Waters

OPC is now seeking proposals for projects that will help California achieve its goal to conserve 30% of coastal waters by 2030. This solicitation is intended to advance 30×30 in coastal waters by:

Enhancing coastal and marine biodiversity conservation
Strengthening biodiversity protections in existing 30×30 Conservation Areas
Supporting the identification of potential new 30×30 Conservation Areas
Providing direct benefits to coastal and marine biodiversity via restoration or other on-the-ground environmental stewardship activities
Supporting stewardship of coastal and marine ecosystems by local communities and California Native American tribes

$10 million is available through this solicitation to fund projects for up to two years. Proposals will be accepted for three separate tracks: action-oriented science (Track 1), accelerating environmental restoration and stewardship (Track 2), and revitalizing tribally-led stewardship (Track 3). More details on each track can be found in the solicitation.

Full Solicitation

Applicants must submit a completed Letter of Intent (LOI) in response to this solicitation. The deadline for submission is Friday, July 18, 2025, by 5:00 p.m. The LOI is the first phase of the grant application process describing the project proposal. Following the LOI review phase, OPC anticipates inviting selected applicants to submit full proposals in August.