Coastal Ecosystems Institute of Northern California (CEINC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and interpreting ecosystem science along coastal northern California to ensure vibrant and resilient coastal ecosystems.
CEINC was formed in 2011 after the Humboldt Bay Initiative (HBI) identified the need for a nonprofit organization to provide capacity for collaborative planning and management in the Humboldt Bay/California North Coast, as identified in the HBI Strategic Plan (2009). We are an independent nonprofit that uses science and collaboration to inform management and promote policy based on the best available science. We support collaborative science and provide nonprofit support and administration for projects within the coastal northern California region that:
- Promote ecosystem-based management to protect Northern California watersheds and the nearshore ocean;
- Develop, integrate, and disseminate scientific information about coastal ecosystems; and
- Advance communication, collaboration, and activities that enhance ecosystem health.
Approach
For many years, scientists and resource managers in California's North Coast region have explored alternative approaches to conventional natural resource management that are more efficient and effective in protecting coastal ecosystems and natural resources. These improved approaches incorporate collaborative, science-based management, sustainability, ecological health, and inclusion of humans in the ecosystem. CEINC promotes ecosystem-based management in Northern California through collaborative landscape-scale conservation planning, applied research, management based on the best available science, and stakeholder outreach. In order to move toward regional ecological protection and restoration, it is necessary to collaborate with federal agencies, states, local and tribal governments, private industry, non-profit organizations, universities, and other stakeholders. Partnerships need to be developed and leveraged to construct a proactive implementation approach to managing the risks we are facing (incorporating ecosystem restoration into climate adaptation, for example).The CEINC Board of Directors develops projects and proposals to advance knowledge regarding priority studies and projects identified in the HBI Strategic Plan, available HERE.
CEINC and the HBI work together to coordinate scientific, management, and conservation efforts to achieve better ecological outcomes.
Current Priorities
- Implement HBI strategies by taking on the specific roles that are not feasible or appropriate for existing entities and partners in the project area, such as issues that overlap resource agency jurisdictional responsibilities.
- Develop governance structures for ecosystem-based management and facilitate regional cooperation.
- Build capacity of partners and leverage resources to fill information gaps.
- Identify organizational funding for CEINC (including funding to update the Strategic Plan)
- Identify funding for coordination of the HBI
- Synthesize and provide the best available science for understanding the impacts of climate variability.
- Evaluate habitat types and establish habitat goals.
- Track restoration activities to analyze changes in habitat extent and evaluate progress in meeting conservation objectives.
- Encourage permitting agencies to facilitate voluntary restoration and enhancement projects on private lands by making permits more economical, coordinated, and easier to acquire.
- Complete the Coastal Regional Sediment Management Plan for the Eureka littoral cell.
- Study present and future patterns of suspended sediment, aquatic light, and productivity in Humboldt Bay.
- Develop an accessible model demonstrating how Humboldt Bay functions.
CONTACT US
Coastal Ecosystems Institute of Northern California (CEINC)
PO Box 806
Bayside, CA
95524
Marissa@CoastalEcosystemsInstitute.org