A new report produced by California's Ocean Science Trust (OST) includes recommendations and research needs for improving social equity in funding, policies, and research for nature-based coastal adaptation in California.
This new resource provides nine evidence-based policy recommendations and seven research needs for improving social equity in this work and that can help inform alignment between the State of California’s equity, biodiversity, and coastal resilience goals.
Nature-based coastal management approaches are increasingly being recognized as climate adaptation options that offer co-benefits beyond the original goal of shoreline protection in response to rising seas and other shoreline threats. The growing interest in these climate adaptation options in California presents an opportunity to invest in approaches that emphasize not only ecological and physical outcomes, but also advance social equity for frontline communities and California Native American tribes who have experienced a legacy of discrimination in land use planning and development.
California’s coastlines, climate vulnerabilities, and communities are diverse, and therefore the potential social equity considerations for individual nature based adaptation options can vary significantly. Filling priority research gaps can help support implementation of the recommendations in this report and inform equitable responses to sea level rise and other hazards in different contexts for frontline communities and tribes.
Toward More Equitable Nature-based Coastal Adaptation in California: Recommendations for Improving Social Equity in Funding, Policy, and Research. California Ocean Science Trust, June 2022.