Los Angeles County's 30x30 Strategy Earns National Recognition

The National Association of Counties (NACo) has awarded the County of Los Angeles an Achievement Award in the Parks and Recreation category for its Parks Needs Assessment Plus (PNA+). Developed by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), the PNA+ is an update to the 2016 Parks Needs Assessment (PNA) and the county’s plan to achieve "30x30” which is the goal of conserving 30 percent of lands and coastal waters by the year 2030 to fight climate change and protect biodiversity. The PNA+ establishes a new paradigm for conservation that includes the acquisition and protection of natural lands as well as the proactive and strategic restoration of degraded lands, especially in communities where vulnerable populations and environmental burdens are concentrated.

To advance park equity and environmental justice, DPR maintains that a 30x30 plan for urban counties like L.A. County must better address the needs of vulnerable populations by prioritizing restoration efforts in underserved communities.  In L.A. County, many of the most environmentally burdened communities are also the most park poor per the 2016 PNA and the most climate-vulnerable per the County Climate Vulnerability Assessment. In locations where environmental burdens are concentrated and impactful land uses are defunct, multiple benefits can be derived from restoration projects like new parks that address residual pollution and unhealthy conditions, restore natural systems, and provide enhanced recreational opportunities for communities that lack access to parks and open spaces.

Two key examples of restoration projects that DPR is implementing are the redevelopment of the 126-acre Earvin “Magic” Johnson Recreation Area which lies on the site of a former oil storage facility and the implementation of the Puente Hills Landfill Park Master Plan to transform 142 acres of a former landfill into the first new regional park in the county in over 35 years.