ACTIONS TO PROTECT ENDANGERED SPECIES

    Numerous international agreements deal with issues related to the conservation and protection of endangered species. The scientific effort to more accurately catalog species and better define the scope of biodiversity has dramatically raised the number of recorded threatened and endangered species in recent years. In spite of these shocking statistics of endangerment, there is a good deal of evidence that national and international efforts to preserve endangered species have been very successful. Some of the most important international conventions are ratified by most of the world's nations, and have had significant power to enforce agreements in the decades since their introduction: (1) the 1971 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance that promotes wise use of wetlands and encourages designation of important wetlands as ecological reserves; (2) the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage that designates of high-profile World Heritage Sites for protection of their natural and cultural values; (3) the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); (4) the 1979 Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals of 1979 that deals with species that regularly cross national boundaries or that occur in international waters; and (5) the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD was presented by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992, and has been regularly updated since then; the most recent amendments to the CBD occurred at the 2002 United Nations Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The CBD is a central element of another international program called the Global Biodiversity Strategy, a joint effort by the IUCN, UNEP, and the World Resources Institute to study and conserve biodiversity.

    Many countries, like the United States, have also undertaken their own actions to catalog and protect endangered species and other elements of biodiversity. Many of these national conservation efforts, like the ESA, have and international component that deals with species migration and trade across borders, and that mesh with the international conventions. Another important aspect of endangered species protection is collaboration with non-governmental organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy and the Ocean Conservancy. The United States, for example, has a network of conservation data centers (CDCs) that gather and compile information on the occurrence and abundance of biological species and ecosystems that was designed and established by The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy has also facilitated development of CDCs in Canada and in Central and South America.

    International, national and non-governmental agencies attempting to conserve biodiversity and protect endangered species choose whether to pursue single-species approaches that focus on particular species, or to develop more comprehensive strategies that focus on larger ecosystems. Because there are so many endangered species, many of which have not even been discovered, the single-species approach has obvious limitations. While the method works well for charismatic, large animals like giant pandas, grizzly bears, whales, and whooping cranes, this approach fails to protect most endangered species. More effective strategies focus on entire natural ecosystems that include numerous, hidden elements of threatened biodiversity. Furthermore, more conservation policies are attempting to consider the social, political, and economic ramifications of a species or environmental protection plan. As in the case of the northern spotted owl, policies that require large economic sacrifices and offer no immediate local benefits often alienate the very humans that could best help to preserve an endangered species or ecosystem. Modern environmental protection strategies attempt to present alternatives that permit sustainable human productivity.