Natural History Wanderings

The Department of Defense (DoD) has long viewed environmental conservation across its lands as integral to its mission. Military training and testing require undeveloped and often natural land to simulate wartime conditions. In California alone, DoD controls 200,000 acres of coastal land. DoD also determined that climate change is a threat to national security, and are recognizing the important role for nature in building resilience. In 2021, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) collaborated with the U.S. Army Corps’ Engineering with Nature program to publish a collection of case studies of nature-based solutions for resilience on U.S. military installations, including featuring our collaboration with U.S. Navy in California.

TNC and the United States Navy partnered together to prepare for the impacts of climate change on Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC), Point Mugu in California. NBVC is a critical and strategic asset of the U.S. Navy. It is also home to Mugu Lagoon, the largest and most intact saltmarsh in Southern California, supporting high biodiversity including many imperiled species. Protecting and enhancing Mugu Lagoon’s coastal habitats is critical to NBVC resilience, absorbing flood waters and buffering the base from sea level rise and coastal flooding and erosion. Without action, this amazing natural resource and military assets are both vulnerable to loss.

Read more at The Department of Defense: A Powerful Partner for Conservation and Climate Resilience