Throughout California, individuals, businesses and communities are working together to restore, reimagine and recreate degraded ecosystems from urban green spaces to agricultural lands.

Last October, the state committed to a groundbreaking 30x30 Executive Order to protect 30 per cent of California’s lands and waters by 2030. Indigenous leadership is at the heart of this movement to help fragile natural systems thrive and ensure the survival of all species.

Ahead of World Environment Day on June 5, and the official launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, UNEP’s North America Office and the government of California created a compelling video to showcase important restoration initiatives taking place in the state and show how local solutions can have a big global impact.

"California's diverse landscapes require a portfolio of solutions to protect and restore healthy ecosystems that are resilient to the threats posed by climate change. This means we can’t go at it alone,” said California’s Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, Wade Crowfoot.

“Across California, we are engaging and mobilizing inclusive partnerships to accelerate action – from urban to rural settings – and identifying where we can move further, faster, together.”

Among the projects featured in the video is Stemple Creek Ranch, where owners Loren and Lisa Poncia use regenerative, organic agricultural practices to enhance and rehabilitate their entire ecosystem by focusing on soil health and increasing carbon in their land. They are also part of the Marin Carbon Project.

“We try to dance with Mother Nature; we try not to do any harm and we try to create as much photosynthesis as possible with our grazing practices so there’s always a living root in the ground that can capture Mother Nature’s rays of sun,” says Loren Poncia.

“We’re carbon farmers really; we’re pulling CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil.”

Another project -- the Sacramento River Run4Salmon initiative -- sees UNEP Young Champion of the Earth Niria Alicia Garcia work with indigenous women and activists to raise awareness about the plight of the Chinook salmon, a keystone species that is sacred to the Winnemem Wintu people and many other indigenous communities from California to Canada and Alaska. Read more about this amazing project here.

Tribal communities have acted as stewards to California’s natural resources since before the state’s inception, and the state’s partnership with tribes is more important than ever. Indigenous peoples represent less than 5 per cent of the global population and yet they steward more than 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity.

Another project featured in the video shows how work is taking place at the Cesar E. Chavez Education Center to convert an unshaded schoolyard in the Oakland Unified School District into a green space. And finally, the video features Dos Rios Ranch, a multi-benefit project located in Stanislaus County, California, at the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne Rivers, where approximately 1,600 acres have been restored with plans to restore an additional 500 acres. This work is protecting biodiversity, protecting communities against flooding and helping California to increase its climate resilience.

These projects demonstrate how California is taking action to restore our earth, and show that by working together, we can achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Follow all the events taking place around World Environment Day here, and don’t miss the virtual gala launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration on June 4.