Paths to 30x30
Part 1: Toward the goal to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters, what counts as "conserved"?
Overview
Reading time: 10 min.
30x30 is an ambitious plan to conserve 30 percent of the world’s lands and ocean by 2030 in order to protect biodiversity and the climate. The outdoor community is enthusiastic about this effort, and 30x30 has the potential to protect biodiversity and mitigate climate change, while also supporting outdoor recreation, the outdoor recreation economy, and increasing equitable access to the outdoors. This story map is part of a series from Outdoor Alliance on what 30x30 is, how we can achieve it, and what role the outdoor community can play to help get us there.
In Part 1 of this series, we explore a foundational question to 30x30. If we want to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters, what kind of conservation “counts” toward the 30 percent?
At the moment, there is no official answer to this question, but the Biden administration has released a guidance report with recommendations that outline how we might achieve 30x30 goals. The guidance report is discussed briefly at the end of this story map in the Next Steps section.
- How has the U.S. documented protected areas? An introduction to Gap Analysis Project status codes - a widely used system for measuring biodiversity conservation in the U.S.
- How much land and water is currently protected? Interactive web maps that show how much of the U.S. is currently protected.
- What are the best opportunities to conserve more places? Imperfect protections and the role of "other effective area-based conservation measures."
In this story map, we will explore the following:
Conserve vs Preserve
For most people, the idea of conserving or preserving land or water seems interchangeable. But there are key differences between conservation and preservation that will shape how the U.S. pursues 30x30. The recent executive order calls for conserving, not preserving, 30 percent of our lands and waters.
What's the difference between conservation and preservation? Conservation is the sustainable use and management of natural resources, while in contrast, preservation is the protection of natural resources from human consumption, with the goal of maintaining its pristine condition. For example, Wilderness Areas and National Parks would be examples of preservation, while National Forests that allow for multiple uses would be an example of conservation.
By embracing conservation, the Biden administration is signaling that it is prioritizing a more holistic, flexible, and inclusive approach to biodiversity protection and climate mitigation. We know that the U.S. will not meet the ambitious goals science mandates if we only pursue protections of the most pristine and aesthetic landscapes (although that will continue to be important). Instead, we will also need to conserve and restore smaller spaces, which have the added benefit of making 30x30 relevant to more communities.
Measuring Protection
Right now, none of the state or national commitments to 30x30 explicitly lay out what will “count” toward conserving 30 percent of U.S. lands and ocean. However, some of them, including the House and Senate 30x30 Resolutions, cite a figure that 12 percent of U.S. land and 26 percent of ocean territory are currently protected (quoted below). These statistics are derived from the total area of land and ocean categorized as GAP 1 or 2 (see chart below comparing land protections). Currently, the PAD-US and GAP methodology are the best available science and a good starting point for discussing what "counts" as protected.
Whereas the existing protections for land, the ocean, and wildlife in the United States are not sufficient to prevent a further decline of nature in the United States, with—(1) only 12 percent of the land area in the United States permanently protected, mostly in Alaska and the West; and (2) only 26 percent of Federal ocean territory permanently protected, the vast majority of which is in the remote western Pacific Ocean or northwestern Hawaii;
Figure: GAP Status Codes by Acre for U.S. States and Territories (stats from PAD-US v1.4). Note: Since PAD-US version 1.4, National Monuments have been re-categorized from GAP 3 to GAP 2 and this change is not reflected in the previous figure. The USGS is working on statistics for version 2.1. More info here .
GAP Status Codes
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) manages the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), which is the nation's official inventory of public open space and private protected areas. The database was originally designed to support biodiversity assessments through the Gap Analysis Project (GAP); however, its scope has expanded in recent years to include all public and nonprofit held lands and waters.
Definition of a Protected Area in PAD-US: Dedicated to the preservation of biological diversity and to other natural, recreation and cultural uses, managed for these purposes through legal or other effective means.
The lands and ocean included in PAD-US are assigned GAP status codes (1-4) that categorize the level of biodiversity conservation and indicate other natural, recreational, and cultural uses (see table).
GAP status codes 1 and 2 include permanently protected areas in a natural condition that are free from extractive uses, like Wilderness Areas and National Parks.
GAP status codes 3 and 4 include areas that do not have long-term permanent protection and are open to multiple uses (including extraction). GAP status code 3 areas have a written plan in place to benefit biodiversity (e.g. National Forests, Roadless Areas), whereas GAP status code 4 are areas without a written plan in place to benefit biodiversity (e.g. Historic or Cultural Areas, Military Lands).
For a deeper dive on GAP status codes, check out USGS PAD-US Data Overview
Protecting the Ocean
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) manages the National Marine Sanctuary System and protects 14 specially designated areas of the nation's oceans and Great Lakes for their conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, cultural, archeological, scientific, educational, or esthetic qualities. NOAA worked with the USGS GAP program to develop a classification for Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and default assignment of GAP status codes (see table).
Table: Crosswalk of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Marine Protected Areas categories and default GAP status codes.
Under the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service (NPS) serves as the guardian of 387 units in the National Park System. More than 40 contain portions of the sea and Great Lakes encompassing 3 million acres of ocean and coastal waters and more than 4,000 miles of coastline within their boundaries.
The National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, manages over 150 million acres. Of the 550 units in the Refuge System, 180 protect the ocean, coastal, or Great Lakes habitats and resources.
Four very large marine national monuments in the Pacific are managed by NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, Buck Island Reef National Monument and the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument protect key reef areas in the Caribbean.
Source: NOAA
Interactive Maps
Protected Areas in the U.S. by Land Manager
Curious about what biodiversity protections are in your backyard? This map shows who manages the land (e.g. local, state, federal, joint, etc.), GAP status code, and the designation name (e.g. National Forest, Wildlife Refuge, Preserve, etc.).
Map Controls
Selecting (mouse click) areas/polygons on the map will expand pop-up windows with more information.
- Select the "crosshair" icon in the lower right corner to zoom in to your current location.
- "+" and "-" buttons in the lower right corner control the spatial extent of the map.
- The map has been optimized for loading speed, and users will need to zoom into the state level for the layer to be visible (zooming out beyond the state level scale, the layer will not be visible).
- Select the circle icon in the lower left corner to open the legend.
Marine Protected Areas in the U.S.
This map shows Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), areas of the ocean set aside for long-term conservation aims.
Why are MPAs important?
MPAs provide areas of reduced stress, improving the ability of marine organisms to adapt to climate change. Well-integrated MPA networks can increase species survival by allowing them to move around and escape certain pressures.
MPAs that protect coastal habitats such as barrier islands, coral reefs, mangroves, and wetlands reduce human vulnerability in the face of climate change and provide the natural infrastructure (e.g. storm protection) on which people rely.
Where are the "Gaps" in biodiversity protection?
This map shows the number of species that are protected by the Endangered Species Act and/or considered to be in danger of extinction, including plants, animals, freshwater critters, and pollinators. Orange and yellow colors show areas where more endangered species are likely to occur. These areas are critically important for protecting biodiversity, but as highlighted in an analysis by Defenders of Wildlife , imperiled species and biodiversity hotspots are largely unprotected - with only 7 percent of biodiversity hotspots covered by GAP 1 and 2.
Selecting (mouse click) areas/polygons on the map will expand pop-up windows with more information, including an imperiled species value and GAP status code (where information is available).
Conservation Opportunities
While permanently protected areas like Wilderness Areas and National Wildlife Refuges will continue to be important, imperfect protections will be equally important to achieving the 30x30 goal. One compelling potential solution would be incorporating "Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures" (OECMs) into 30x30 implementation, which is an important conservation framework within the international community. OECMs are defined by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity as:
A geographically defined area other than a Protected Area, which is governed and managed in ways that achieve positive and sustained long-term outcomes for the in situ conservation of biodiversity with associated ecosystem functions and services and where applicable, cultural, spiritual, socio–economic, and other locally relevant values.
What this means is while traditionally protected areas might have nature conservation as the primary goal, OECMs may have nature conservation as a primary or secondary goal. Imperfect protections and "micro contributions" will play an important role in protecting biodiversity, and they are also significant from a standpoint of mitigating climate change, protecting ecosystem services, enhancing equitable access to the outdoors, and building a constituency of people who sees the success of 30x30 as directly bringing tangible benefits to their communities.
A few examples where conservation may meet all elements of a protected area but are not officially designated as a protected area are highlighted in the slideshow below.
Next Steps
What happens next? The report "Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful," goes to the National Climate Task Force and recommends that the U.S. Government should take two complementary steps to measure and report upon conservation progress in the U.S.
- Create an American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas that collects baseline information on the amount and types of lands and waters that are being managed for conservation and restoration purposes.
- Publication of annual America the Beautiful updates on the health of nature in America and on the Federal Government’s efforts to support locally-led conservation and restoration efforts.
We’ll continue to share opportunities to be engaged and you can take action by following the steps below.
Take Action
- Ask lawmakers to take climate action now by filling out our action form below.
- If you are just learning about 30x30 and want to take a deeper dive, we encourage you to check out our companion paper here .
- Read the 30x30 guidance report, " Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful ."
