Wildlife conservation

The Siberian tiger is a subspecies of tiger that is critically endangered; three subspecies of tiger are already extinct.

Wildlife conservation is the practice of protecting endangered plant and animal species and their habitats. Among the goals of wildlife conservation are to ensure that nature will be around for future generations to enjoy and to recognize the importance of wildlife and wilderness lands to humans. Many nations have government agencies dedicated to wildlife conservation, which help to implement policies designed to protect wildlife. Numerous independent nonprofit organizations also promote various wildlife conservation causes.

Wildlife conservation has become an increasingly important practice due to the negative effects of human activity on wildlife. The science of extinction. An endangered species is defined as a population of a living being that is at the danger of becoming extinct because of several reasons. Either they are few in number or are threatened by the varying environmental or predation parameters.

Major threats to wildlife

Major threats to wildlife can be categorized as below:

• Habitat loss: Fewer natural wildlife habitat areas remain each year. Moreover, the habitat that remains has often been degraded to bear little resemblance to the wild areas which existed in the past.
• Climate change: Because many types of plants and animals have specific habitat requirements, climate change could cause disastrous loss of wildlife species. A slight insects are harmed and disturbed. Plants and wildlife are sensitive to moisture change so, they will be harmed by any change in moisture level.
• Pesticides and toxic chemical: Widely used, making the environment toxic to certain plants, insects, and rodents.
• Unregulated Hunting and poaching: Unregulated hunting and poaching causes a major threat to wildlife. Along with this, mismanagement of forest department and forest guards triggers this problem.
• Natural phenomena: Floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, lightning, forest fires.
• Pollution: Pollutants released into the environment are ingested by a wide variety of organisms.
• Over-exploitation of resources: Exploitation of wild populations for food has resulted in population crashes (over-fishing and over-grazing for example)
• Perhaps the largest threat is the extreme growing indifference of the public to wildlife, conservation and environmental issues in general.

North American Model of Wildlife Conservation

The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation is considered to be one the most successful conservation models in world.^{[citation needed]} It has its origins in 19th century conservation movements, the near extinction of several species of wildlife (including the American Bison) and the rise of sportsmen with the middle class. Beginning in the 1860s sportsmen began to organize and advocate for the preservation of wilderness areas and wildlife. The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation rests on two basic principles – fish and wildlife are for the non-commercial use of citizens, and should be managed such that they are available at optimum population levels forever. These core principles are elaborated upon in the seven major tenets of the model.

Public trust doctrine

In the North American Model, wildlife is held in the public trust. This means that fish and wildlife are held by the public through state and federal governments. In other words, though an individual may own the land up which wildlife resides, that individual does not own said wildlife. Instead, the wildlife is owned by all citizens. With origins in Roman times and English Common law, the public trust doctrine has at its heart the 1842 Supreme Court ruling Martin V. Waddell.

Non-frivolous use

Under the North American Model, the killing of game must be done only for food, fur, self-defense, and the protection of property (including livestock). In other words, it is broadly regarded as unlawful and unethical to kill fish or wildlife (even with a license) without making all reasonable effort to retrieve and make reasonable use of the resource.

Wildlife as an international resource

As wildlife do not exist only within fixed political boundaries, effective management of these resources must be done internationally, through treaties and the cooperation of management agencies.

Government involvement

The Wildlife Conservation Act was enacted by the Government of India in 1972. Soon after the trend of policy makers enacting regulations on conservation a strategy was developed to allow actors, both government and non-government, to follow a detailed "framework" to successful conservation. The World Conservation Strategy was developed in 1980 by the "International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources "(IUCN) with advice, cooperation and financial assistance of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Wildlife Fund and in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco)" The strategy aims to "provide an intellectual framework and practical guidance for conservation actions." This thorough guidebook covers everything from the intended "users" of the strategy to its very priorities and even a map section containing areas that have large seafood consumption therefore endangering the area to over fishing. The main sections are as follows:

• The objectives of conservation and requirements for their achievement:

1. Maintenance of essential ecological processes and life-support systems.
2. Preservation of genetic diversity that is flora and fauna.
3. Sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems.

• Priorities for national action:

1. A framework for national and subnational conservation strategies.
2. Policy making and the integration of conservation and development.
3. Environmental planning and rational use allocation.

• Priorities for international action:

1. International action: law and assistance.
2. Tropical forests and drylands.
3. A global programme for the protection of genetic resource areas.

Map sections:

1. Tropical forests
2. Deserts and areas subject to desertification.

Non-government involvement

As “major development agencies” became “discouraged with the public sector” of environmental conservation in the late 1980s, these agencies began to lean their support towards the “private sector” or non-government organizations (NGOs). In a World Bank Discussion Paper it is made apparent that “the explosive emergence of nongovernmental organizations” was widely known to government policy makers. Seeing this rise in NGO support, the U.S. Congress made amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act in 1979 and 1986 “earmarking U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funds for biodiversity”. From 1990 moving through recent years environmental conservation in the NGO sector has become increasingly more focused on the political and economic impact of USAID given towards the “Environment and Natural Resources”. After the terror attacks on the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001 and the start of former President Bush’s War on Terror, maintaining and improving the quality of the environment and natural resources became a “priority” to “prevent international tensions” according to the Legislation on Foreign Relations Through 2002 and section 117 of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act. Furthermore in 2002 U.S. Congress modified the section on endangered species of the previously amended Foreign Assistance Act.

Sec. 119.100 Endangered Species:

(a) The Congress finds the survival of many animals and plant species is endangered by over hunting, by the presence of toxic chemicals in water, air and soil, and by the destruction of habitats. The Congress further finds that the extinction of animal and plant species is an irreparable loss with potentially serious environmental and economic consequences for developing and developed countries alike. Accordingly, the preservation of animal and plant species through the regulation of the hunting and trade in endangered species, through limitations on the pollution of natural ecosystems, and through the protection of wildlife habitats should be an important objective of the United States development assistance.

(b) 100 In order to preserve biological diversity, the President is authorized to furnish assistance under this part, notwithstanding section 660,101 to assist countries in protecting and maintaining wildlife habitats and in developing sound wildlife management and plant conservation programs. Special efforts should be made to establish and maintain wildlife sanctuaries, reserves, and parks; to enact and enforce anti-poaching measures; and to identify, study, and catalog animal and plant species, especially in tropical environments.

The amendments to the section also included modifications on the section concerning "PVOs and other Nongovernmental Organizations." The section requires that PVOs and NGOs "to the fullest extent possible involve local people with all stages of design and implementation." These amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act and the recent rise in USAID funding towards foreign environmental conservation have led to several disagreements in terms of NGOs' role in foreign development.

Active non-government organizations

Many NGOs exist to actively promote, or be involved with wildlife conservation:

• The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
• World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States. It is the world's largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 90 countries, supporting around 1300[4] conservation and environmental projects around the world. It is a charity, with approximately 60% of its funding coming from voluntary donations by private individuals. 45% of the fund's income comes from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• WildTeam
• Wildlife Conservation Society
• Audubon Society
• Traffic (conservation programme)
• Safari Club International
• Wild Earth Guardians

External links

•  Ernest Ingersoll (1920). "Wild Life, Conservation of, in America". Encyclopedia Americana.