Navigating the Blue Frontier: Indigenous Stewardship and Policy Insights in California's Underwater Forests
- Marian Walker
- Jun 7, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 19
Marian S. Walker and Sarah Lam
The Nature Conservancy
I collaborated with Sarah Lam, a student from the UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science and Management MESM program, to conduct an analysis of the potential participation of Indigenous communities in kelp restoration projects throughout California. Our evaluation encompassed various factors, including the proximity of Indigenous communities to ongoing or identified restoration sites, First Nation jurisdiction, access to ancestral lands, and compliance with California's environmental policy frameworks. This project was completed in partnership with UCSB's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, The Nature Conservancy, and Bank of America.
Research Poster
Introduction
Kelp forests are a critical nearshore ecosystem that provides a wealth of natural resources which support social, cultural, and economic frameworks as well as the species that inhabit them. Across coastal communities all over the world, this ecosystem and its diverse marine resources, have sustained and inspired traditional indigenous life-ways since time immemorial (Naar 2020, NOAA).
In California, kelp forests have suffered from a myriad of human and climatic impacts. Rising ocean temperatures and increased ocean acidity is increasingly changing the viable range of many species of marine algae while the decimation of key predator species such as sea stars and sea otters has left native purple sea urchin populations unchecked, creating urchin barrens where kelp forests used to be plentiful. The most severe impact in the state can be found along the north coast where bull kelp has declined precipitously. In what is often described as a “perfect storm” of warm water, loss of apex predators, and an unprecedented rise in purple sea urchin populations, kelp forests have declined by as much as 96% in northern regions of the state. As the restoration and recovery of kelp forests are vital to maintaining a healthy ocean, the Ocean Protection Council (OPC), an entity of the California Natural Resources Agency, has acted on this crisis by prioritizing such as implementing statewide monitoring, developing a restoration and management plan, and engaging with coastal communities and Native American Tribes in its Kelp Interim Action Plan.
The close relationship between kelp-based coastal ecosystems and indigenous cultural systems throughout California and the Pacific Northwestern United States is reflected in a wide range of evidence including prehistoric artifacts, historical sources, and contemporary practices (Naar 2020). Kelp forests have played a prominent role in traditional ecological knowledge systems surrounding subsistence and technological development through their crucial role in indigenous fishing, hunting, and food preparation practices. Evidence of human and kelp connections can be found in the “kelp highway” theory that early arrivals to North America followed kelp and other marine resources from Asia all the way to the tip of South America. (Erlandson et. al. 2015). Kelp also has significance in traditional technology and fishing practices such as the creation of bentwood fishing hooks using bull kelp and the traditional practice of harvesting herring roe using kelp by Tribes in the Pacific Northwest (Tonnes 2020). With lands inhabited by indigenous peoples containing 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity, collaboration with indigenous communities and understanding traditional ecological knowledge are key aspects to the success of conservation efforts (Recio & Hestad 2022).
In the past few decades, there has been intensified attention being drawn to indigenous land rights activism from the passing of the Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA) as well as recent protests at Standing Rock and Mauna Kea. Amidst this climate of indigenous recognition, the United States government has created a series of policies and co-management frameworks to return indigenous peoples' decision-making power over the conservation and management of their historic lands, including marine spaces and ecosystems. With the genuine integration of indigenous worldviews, acknowledgment of collective land rights, and taking action to strengthen these communities’ roles as custodians of nature and agents of change, there is definite potential for joint efforts to restore California’s kelp forests (Recio & Hestad 2022). State efforts such as the OPC Kelp Action Plan and the CDFW Bull Kelp Working Group present existing kelp restoration activities that have room for Tribal engagement. However, meaningful Tribal engagement in activities such as these must include fair compensation to and meaningful consultation with Tribes. Our study aims to explore the ongoing efforts of and barriers faced by indigenous Tribes in conservation with the goal of assessing the potential for Tribal engagement in kelp restoration projects throughout the state of California.
Working Paper
