Malibu Municipal Code § 3.1 Introduction

The following information provides an overview and summary of the natural resources in the City of Malibu. This information is only a summary of the more detailed information provided in the "Conservation Element Background Report" presented in a Technical Appendix to the Malibu General Plan.

The California Government Code requires all city and county general plans to contain a Conservation Element as part of the General Plan. Specifically, Government Code Section 65302 requires that a conservation element address the conservation, development and utilization of natural resources including:

The purpose of the Conservation Element is to serve as a guide for the conservation, protection, restoration and management, development, and appropriate and responsible utilization of the City's existing natural resources. Substantial areas of land within the City of Malibu and north of the City within the Malibu Coastal Zone (MCZ) are undeveloped or contain an abundance of natural resources. To protect these resources, it is important for the City to establish policies which promote intelligent management of the resources. These policies should address a variety of natural resources issues that include water quality, coastal and slope erosion, maintenance of unique plant communities, habitat protection, and viable populations of plants and wildlife, and preservation of visual resources.

The MCZ (Figure CO-1) is used as the geographic unit whose resources are addressed by this Conservation Element. The resources of this area are addressed because natural resources located within the City limits are (a) an extension of resources located elsewhere within the MCZ, (b) intimately interrelated with other resources located elsewhere in the MCZ, and (c) potentially affected by impacts to other resources within the MCZ. The resources of the entire MCZ are also addressed because (d) they provide significant opportunities to residents and visitors to the City and (e) the City's sphere of influence may include these resources in the future.