VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO2rCKJ1a2o&feature=youtu.be
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) joined the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and GreenLatinos to discuss how local organizers and communities can participate in the goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s lands and water by 2030, known as the 30×30 initiative. Udall is the author of the Thirty by Thirty Resolution to Save Nature in the Senate.
According to biologists, nature across the world is collapsing. Global human activity has altered three-quarters of the Earth’s lands, and within the United States, about a football field worth of natural area is converted to human development every 30 seconds. Scientists are warning the rapid loss of natural space will result in a mass extinction for wildlife, exacerbated by climate change. In the face of this crisis, ecologists are urging the conservation of at least 30 percent of the planet’s lands and oceans by 2030 ( 30×30 ), a critical step that can protect nature, strengthen communities, and improve public health.
“Across the West, Latino communities live, work, recreate, fish, and hunt on or near our public lands,” Udall said. “There is a deep, centuries-old connection to the land and the water.
“Thirty by Thirty starts at the local level – identifying lands and waters that deserve protection and working to achieve that protection. Local support from Latino and Hispanic communities can directly lead to expanding our public lands and get us to 30 by 30,” Udall continued . “And with a sixth mass extinction on our doorstep and one million animal and plant species in jeopardy over the next decades – we have no time to waste.”
"Latino communities are on the frontlines of the nature & climate crisis. It’s more important now than ever to envision a world with clean air, water and healthy living places for all—including our plant and animal relatives. The 30x30 Resolution provides a path towards making this vision a reality. It’s up to us and our Latino communities to arrive there by advocating for this Resolution, the permanent protection of nature, and the active restoration of our urban ecosystems,” said Olivia Juarez, GreenLatinos Public Land Working Group Co-Chair.
Udall participated in a discussion with local organizers from SUWA and GreenLatinos about the 3ox30 initiative and centering the experiences of communities of color in the conservation and environmental justice movement.
Udall’s remarks can be found below:
It’s great to be here with you, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and GreenLatinos.
I applaud the Alliance’s work to protect Utah’s wild places – including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. I’m in that fight, too.
And I applaud GreenLatinos’ work and your commitment to environmental justice.
Environmental justice must be the guiding principle in all the conservation and environmental work we undertake.
For too long, the environmental movement has been too white, shutting out the voices and experiences of communities of color and Native communities. This must change.
Principles of diversity, inclusion, and equity must inform us every step of the way.
I know from my own experience in New Mexico that diversity makes the conservation movement stronger, more vibrant, and more relevant.
During the Obama administration, we designated two new national monuments in my home state: Rio Grande del Norte in the north – over 240,000 acres of rugged mountains, deep canyons, pristine waters, and abundant wildlife. And Organ Mountains – Desert Peaks to the south – almost 500,000 acres of mountainous desert, remarkable geological and cultural resources, and amazing biodiversity.
The surrounding Hispanic communities were fully behind both designations – and their advocacy was critical to achieving these designations.
In this same way – the Latino community can be integral to fueling the 30 by 30 movement, which I want to talk to you about today.
30 by 30 is a bold, national plan to protect 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030. The lands and waters we all cherish so deeply.
Across the West – Latino communities live, work, recreate, fish, and hunt on or near our public lands. There is a deep, centuries-old connection to the land and the water.
30 by 30 starts at the local level – identifying lands and waters that deserve protection and working to achieve that protection. Local support from Latino and Hispanic communities can directly lead to expanding our public lands and get us to 30 by 30.
And with a sixth mass extinction on our doorstep and one million animal and plant species in jeopardy over the next decades -- we have no time to waste.
The World Wild Life Fund just issued a report finding that human activities have caused global wildlife populations to plummet by more than two-thirds in the last 50 years.
Our message to the American people must emphasize that the nature crisis is in fact a human crisis. Just as Dr. Sala and I talked about in the video. Nature provides our life support system – food, shelter, medicine, economic growth. The threat to nature is in fact a threat to humanity.
30 by 30 is gaining momentum around the nation. We’re getting more sponsors in the Senate and the House.
States are looking at the 30 by 30 goal. Vice President Biden has adopted 30 by 30 as part of his platform.
The American people – across all party lines – overwhelmingly support public lands. And Westerners in particular strongly support 30 by 30.
We need to get our message out loud and clear.
We have a big job before us. But it’s not insurmountable. With “people power” behind us – we can get the job done. And we’re really counting on engaged citizens like you to make your voices heard.
Because action from policymakers will only follow from a movement of concerned citizens demanding change.
Our course is clear: We must take on the nature crisis, along with the climate crisis – with equity as our north star – to save the planet and ourselves.
