Natural and Working Lands Climate Mitigation and Resiliency

The State of California has adopted ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals, including the goal of reaching and maintaining carbon neutrality by 2045. Efforts to conserve natural and working lands and implement nature-based solutions are crucial in achieving these goals.

Natural lands are lands consisting of forests, grasslands, deserts, freshwater and riparian systems, wetlands, coastal and estuarine areas, watersheds, wildlands, or wildlife habitats, or lands used for recreational purposes such as parks, urban and community forests, greenbelts, trails, and other similar open-space lands.

Working lands are lands used for farming, grazing, or the production of forest products.

Nature-based solutions aim to reduce emissions and build resiliency through actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems, benefiting people and nature at the same time. These actions offer many co-benefits, including enhancing forest health to prevent carbon loss, improving air quality, increasing water capacity, supporting rural economies, and effectively utilizing forest biomass resources. These actions can also help increase tree coverage, reduce heat islands, improve water infrastructure, and lower fire risks in urban areas.

Understanding the magnitude and nature of carbon stored in the natural of working lands of the Monterey Bay Region, how the natural environment might be affected by climate change, and what can be done to protect and enhance this carbon stock is critical to the successful deployment of future nature-based mitigation and resiliency projects.

AMBAG has prepared a Natural and Working Lands Mitigation and Resiliency Study for Monterey Bay, which includes a carbon stock inventory and forecast. AMBAG is now working with stakeholders to explore opportunities for nature-based solutions to be deployed in the natural and working lands in the Monterey Bay area.