Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Conservation with Angela Kemsley and Mary Liesegang of WILDCOAST

The Finest City

In this episode of the Knowledge to Action series, host Jen Whitelaw welcomes Angela Kemsley and Mary Liesegang of WILDCOAST. Along with their international team, Angela and Mary are working to conserve coastal and marine ecosystems and address climate change through natural solutions. They speak with Jen about WILDCOAST’s mission to establish and manage marine protected areas, restore blue carbon ecosystems, and engage communities in the stewardship of healthy, thriving oceans, coastlines, and wildlife. They explain what blue carbon is and why it’s important, what WILDCOAST is doing to address marine debris, including a few interesting partnerships, and the many ways the community can get involved with their restoration and advocacy initiatives.

Timestamps:

[1:53] WILDCOAST is an international team that conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and addresses climate change through natural solutions. They work to establish and manage marine protected areas and restore blue carbon ecosystems.

[2:39] What exactly is the role of a social ecologist? Angela talks about the mission to involve local communities and get them to help take ownership of their projects, which brings a feeling of deep engagement.

[3:13] What is blue carbon?

[5:07] What WILDCOAST is doing to actively restore 42 acres of wetlands in San Diego County.

[6:01] WILDCOAST focuses on engaging the community as stakeholders, and provides them education on the importance of blue carbon, along with focusing their efforts primarily on riparian habitat, which is the transition zone in between the wetland and the chaparral.

[7:54] Blue carbon is a new field, but one that is growing quickly. The lack of standardization makes it challenging for people who aren’t necessarily in the field to be able to access the information they want.

[10:20] Blue carbon ecosystems meet multiple goals of the Climate Action Plan. They reduce emissions through their natural sequestration, they engage communities through restoration efforts, and they conserve open spaces for residents to be able to enjoy.

[11:45] The blue carbon program is truly binational, and the work in San Diego is inspired by work already done in Mexico.

[12:28] What is a mangrove, and why are they important?

[13:36] Angela talks about a partnership to upcycle old fishing gear from ports in California, and another one with the Tijuana River Estuary.

[23:13] WILDCOAST is doing a few things to thwart poachers, and Angela talks about CALTIP, a service to call if you see poaching.

[27:55] How can someone get involved at WILDCOAST, and what does volunteering look like?

About C-3

In its 60 years of existence, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) has brought together local thought leaders from planning, design, policy, academia, community development, and more to address our region’s distinctive and pressing land use challenges. In founding C-3 almost 60 years ago, architect Lloyd Ruocco’s vision was to bring together our region’s most creative minds from the arts, sciences, academia, and government to share ideas, learn new perspectives, and build fellowship around the idea of creating livable communities.

Opportunities for Advocacy and Engagement:

C3sandiego.org

Wildcoast

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Coastal Quest

MPA Watch

CALTIP