<
https://emagazine.com/the-endangered-species-act-turns-50-assessing-successes-failures/>
"The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been successful in preventing the
extinction of hundreds of wildlife species and in promoting the recovery of
thousands more since its inception in 1973. Some of the species that have been
successfully recovered and removed from the list of threatened and endangered
species include American alligators, bald eagles, peregrine falcons and
humpback whales.
According to the Center of Biological Diversity, a leading U.S.-based
non-profit with the simple mission of “saving life on Earth,” the ESA has
protected more than 1,600 species in the U.S., preventing the extinction of 99
percent of the species listed under it. Without the ESA, at least 227 species
would likely have gone extinct by now since the law’s passage in 1973. In
addition, 110 species have seen tremendous recovery since being protected by
the act.
The ESA also supports conservation outside the U.S., as the federal government
uses the law to enforce the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES), a global agreement between nations to regulate trade on
species under threat. Examples of the ESA’s reach beyond U.S. borders is in
helping save giant pandas as well as several species of tiger.
However, it’s important to note that the ESA has not been successful in all
cases, and some species have not recovered as expected or have even gone
extinct despite being protected under the Act, especially in more recent years.
There are many factors that can affect the success or failure of species
recovery efforts, including habitat loss, climate change, disease and human
activities. But researchers from Columbia and Princeton concluded that one
threat looms even larger: lack of adequate funding for conservation efforts."
Via Esther Schindler.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
