[House Hearing, 112 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
H.R. 50, ``MULTINATIONAL SPECIES CONSERVATION FUNDS REAUTHORIZATION
ACT''; H.R. 1760, ``GREAT APE CONSERVATION REAUTHORIZATION AMENDMENTS
ACT''; & H.R. 1761, ``MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION REAUTHORIZATION ACT''
=======================================================================
LEGISLATIVE HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE,
OCEANS AND INSULAR AFFAIRS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
Thursday, July 28, 2011
__________
Serial No. 112-55
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources
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Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov
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Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov
__________
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COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
DOC HASTINGS, WA, Chairman
EDWARD J. MARKEY, MA, Ranking Democrat Member
Don Young, AK Dale E. Kildee, MI
John J. Duncan, Jr., TN Peter A. DeFazio, OR
Louie Gohmert, TX Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, AS
Rob Bishop, UT Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ
Doug Lamborn, CO Grace F. Napolitano, CA
Robert J. Wittman, VA Rush D. Holt, NJ
Paul C. Broun, GA Raul M. Grijalva, AZ
John Fleming, LA Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU
Mike Coffman, CO Jim Costa, CA
Tom McClintock, CA Dan Boren, OK
Glenn Thompson, PA Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Jeff Denham, CA CNMI
Dan Benishek, MI Martin Heinrich, NM
David Rivera, FL Ben Ray Lujan, NM
Jeff Duncan, SC John P. Sarbanes, MD
Scott R. Tipton, CO Betty Sutton, OH
Paul A. Gosar, AZ Niki Tsongas, MA
Raul R. Labrador, ID Pedro R. Pierluisi, PR
Kristi L. Noem, SD John Garamendi, CA
Steve Southerland II, FL Colleen W. Hanabusa, HI
Bill Flores, TX Vacancy
Andy Harris, MD
Jeffrey M. Landry, LA
Charles J. ``Chuck'' Fleischmann,
TN
Jon Runyan, NJ
Bill Johnson, OH
Todd Young, Chief of Staff
Lisa Pittman, Chief Counsel
Jeffrey Duncan, Democrat Staff Director
David Watkins, Democrat Chief Counsel
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE, OCEANS
AND INSULAR AFFAIRS
JOHN FLEMING, LA, Chairman
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, CNMI, Ranking Democrat Member
Don Young, AK Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, AS
Robert J. Wittman, VA Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ
Jeff Duncan, SC Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU
Steve Southerland, II, FL Pedro R. Pierluisi, PR
Bill Flores, TX Colleen W. Hanabusa, HI
Andy Harris, MD Vacancy
Jeffrey M. Landry, LA Edward J. Markey, MA, ex officio
Jon Runyan, NJ
Doc Hastings, WA, ex officio
------
CONTENTS
----------
Page
Hearing held on Thursday, July 28, 2011.......................... 1
Statement of Members:
Fleming, Hon. John, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Louisiana......................................... 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 2
Markey, Hon. Edward J., a Representative in Congress from the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.............................. 6
Prepared statement of.................................... 7
Miller, Hon. George, a Representative in Congress from the
State of California........................................ 9
Pierluisi, Hon. Pedro R., the Resident Commissioner in
Congress from Puerto Rico.................................. 8
Sablan, Hon. Gregorio, a Delegate in Congress from the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands............... 2
Prepared statement of.................................... 3
Young, Hon. Don, the Representative in Congress for the State
of Alaska.................................................. 4
Prepared statement of.................................... 5
Statement of Witnesses:
Diez, Carlos E., National Sea Turtle Coordinator, Puerto Rico
Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.......... 35
Prepared statement on H.R. 1761.......................... 36
Hosmer, Joseph, President, Safari Club International
Foundation................................................. 37
Prepared statement on H.R. 50............................ 39
Robinson, John G., Ph.D., Executive Vice President,
Conservation and Science, Wildlife Conservation Society.... 22
Prepared statement on H.R. 50, H.R. 1760, and H.R. 1761.. 24
Saito, Teiko, Assistant Director for International Affairs,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the
Interior................................................... 11
Prepared statement on H.R. 50, H.R. 1760, and H.R. 1761.. 12
Somerhalder, Ian, Celebrity Spokesman, Multinational Species
Conservation Fund Coalition................................ 19
Prepared statement on H.R. 50............................ 20
Stoinski, Tara S., Ph.D., Manager of Conservation
Partnerships, Zoo Atlanta, and Pat and Forest McGrath Chair
of Research and Conservation, The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
International.............................................. 30
Prepared statement on H.R. 1761.......................... 32
Additional materials supplied:
Feld, Kenneth J., Chairman and CEO, Entertainment, Inc.,
Letter submitted for the record on H.R. 50................. 54
Goodall, Jane, Ph.D., DBE, Founder, The Jane Goodall
Institute, and U.N. Messenger of Peace, Statement submitted
for the record on H.R. 1760................................ 51
Hanna, Jack, Director Emeritus, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium,
Statement submitted for the record on H.R. 50, H.R. 1760,
and H.R. 1761.............................................. 52
Multinational Species Coalition, Letter submitted for the
record on H.R. 50, H.R. 1760, and H.R. 1761................ 55
LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON H.R. 50, ``MULTINATIONAL SPECIES CONSERVATION
FUNDS REAUTHORIZATION ACT''; H.R. 1760, ``GREAT APE CONSERVATION
REAUTHORIZATION AMENDMENTS ACT''; & H.R. 1761, ``MARINE TURTLE
CONSERVATION REAUTHORIZATION ACT.''
----------
Thursday, July 28, 2011
U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs
Committee on Natural Resources
Washington, D.C.
----------
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:14 a.m. in
Room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. John Fleming,
[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Fleming, Young, Wittman, Sablan,
Faleomavaega, Bordallo, Pierluisi, Hanabusa, Markey [ex
officio]
Also present: Representative Miller.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN FLEMING, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
Mr. Fleming. The Subcommittee will now come to order. The
Chairman notes the presence of a quorum.
Good morning. Today the Subcommittee will receive testimony
on three bills, H.R. 50, H.R. 1760 and H.R. 1761, which would
extend five conservation programs to assist African and Asian
elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, great apes and marine turtles.
Since the establishment of the first of these funds in
1988, the Congress has appropriated some $90 million, which has
attracted over $185 million in private matching funds. Together
these monies have been used by the Fish and Wildlife Service to
finance some 1,805 conservation grants to various range states
throughout the world.
In my invitation letter, I have asked each of our invited
guests to respond to a fundamental question as to why Congress
should continue to appropriate taxpayer money to these funds at
a time when our national debt now exceeds $14 trillion. This
was not a rhetorical question, and I am hoping to get a good
answer.
In addition, based on the numbers provided to me by the
Fish and Wildlife Service, it is clear that private donations
exceeded Federal appropriated funds by more than a two-to-one
ratio. Why then is any Federal investment even necessary?
If these bills are to proceed through the legislative
process, we must be able to adequately justify, especially to
our new Members and to me, of course, why they should vote to
allocate scarce Federal dollars to assist in the conservation
of these international species. I understand that we are not
talking about a huge sum of money but, nevertheless, in our
current fiscal condition we must account for every dollar of
taxpayer money. I look forward to hearing the testimony on
these proposals.
I am now pleased to recognize our Ranking Democrat Member
from the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Congressman
Sablan, for any statement he would like to make.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Fleming follows:]
Statement of The Honorable John Fleming, Chairman,
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs
Good morning, today, the Subcommittee will receive testimony on
three bills, H.R. 50, H.R. 1760 and H.R. 1761 which would extend five
conservation programs to assist African and Asian Elephants, Rhinoceros
and Tigers, Great Apes and Marine Turtles.
Since the establishment of the first of these funds in 1988, the
Congress has appropriated some $90 million which has attracted over
$185 million in private matching funds. Together, these monies have
been used by the Fish and Wildlife Service to finance some 1805
conservation grants to various range states throughout the world.
In my invitation letter, I have asked each of our invited witnesses
to respond to a fundamental question as to why Congress should continue
to appropriate taxpayer money to these Funds at a time when our
national debt now exceeds $14 trillion dollars. This was not a
rhetorical question and I am hoping to get a good answer. In addition,
based on the numbers provided to me by the Fish and Wildlife Service,
it is clear that private donations exceeded federal appropriated funds
by more than a 2-to-1 ratio. Why then is any federal investment
necessary?
If these bills are to proceed through the legislative process, we
must be able to adequately justify, especially to our new members and
me, why they should vote to allocate scare federal dollars to assist in
the conservation of these international species. I understand that we
are not talking about a huge sum of money but nevertheless in our
current fiscal condition, we must account for every dollar of taxpayer
money.
I would now like to recognize the Ranking Minority Member of the
Subcommittee for any statement he would like to make at this time.
______
STATEMENT OF HON. GREGORIO KILILI SABLAN, A DELEGATE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
Mr. Sablan. Thank you very much, Chairman Fleming, and good
morning, everyone. Charismatic wildlife like tigers, turtles
and apes captivate the human imagination, sometimes in fear and
sometimes in awe. These animals inspire an unmistakable
connection between human beings and their environment.
Unfortunately, the expansion of our human footprint on this
planet often collides with wildlife and their habitat. The
result of this collision can be disastrous for the habitat, as
well as wildlife populations.
Over a decade ago, Congress felt compelled to make a
statement to the world that wildlife conservation is imperative
and passed legislation to put Federal dollars behind that
statement. The three bills we are considering today reauthorize
programs with a proven track record of making our planet a
better place for wildlife and to ensure future generations can
enjoy these creatures.
I commend my colleagues, Congressman Young, Congressman
Miller and Congressman Pierluisi, for their continued
leadership in the conservation of the world's most charismatic
wildlife. Reauthorizing the Multinational Species Conservation
Fund provides critical technical and cost-sharing grant
assistance to range countries to protect and conserve African
elephants, Asian elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, great apes
and marine turtles.
Through the Fund, Federal dollars are leveraged by awarding
grants to projects with matching nonFederal contributions.
Every Federal dollar invested in the Fund routinely leverages
one to four times that amount in nonFederal matching
contributions. Clearly, the Fund has a proven track record of
efficiency and achievement.
With a modest investment, this fund has quite a list of
accomplishments. For example, the Great Ape Conservation Act
supports the work of important organizations like the Dian
Fossey Gorilla Fund, which has operated the longest running
gorilla conservation program in Rwanda.
The Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act is responsible
for bringing a rhino education camp to 60 schools in the median
areas that have high quality black rhinoceros habitat. The same
fund supports collaborative efforts to conserve Amur tiger
habitat adjacent to the Russia-China border where the remaining
population is estimated to be only 350 adult tigers.
And finally, the Marine Turtle Conservation Act supports a
project monitoring and protecting hawksbill turtle nesting
activity in the Pearl Cays in Nicaragua while simultaneously
developing turtle-based ecotourism for the benefit of the local
community.
I commend these efforts to protect these highly endangered
species. I would like to thank the witnesses for coming to this
hearing today, and I look forward to hearing more of the
success stories and about the vital importance of the
protection efforts of this wildlife during your testimonies.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Sablan follows:]
Statement of The Honorable Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Ranking
Member, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs
Thank you, Chairman Fleming. Charismatic wildlife, like tigers,
turtles, and apes, captivate the human imagination. Sometimes in fear
and oftentimes in awe, these animals inspire an unmistakable connection
between human beings and their environment.
Regrettably, the expansion of our human footprint on this planet
often collides with wildlife and their habitat. The result of this
collision can be disastrous for the habitat as well as wildlife
populations. Over a decade ago Congress felt compelled to make a
statement to the world that wildlife conservation is imperative and
passed legislation to put federal dollars behind that statement. The
three bills we are considering today reauthorize programs with a proven
track record of making our planet a better place for wildlife and to
ensure future generations can enjoy these creatures.
I commend my colleagues, Congressmen Young, Miller, and Pierluisi
for their continued leadership in the conservation of the world's most
charismatic wildlife. Reauthorizing the Multinational Species
Conservation Fund provides critical technical and cost-sharing grant
assistance to range countries to protect and conserve African
Elephants, Asian Elephants, Rhinoceroses, Tigers, Great Apes, and
Marine Turtles. Through the Fund, federal dollars are leveraged by
awarding grants to projects with matching non-Federal contributions.
Every Federal dollar invested in the Fund routinely leverages one to
four times that amount in non-Federal matching contributions. Clearly,
the Fund has a proven track record of efficiency and achievement.
With a modest investment, this Fund has quite a list of
accomplishments. For example, the Great Ape Conservation Act supports
the work of important organizations, like the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund,
which has operated the longest running gorilla conservation program in
Rwanda. The Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act is responsible for
bringing a rhino education campaign to 60 schools in Namibian areas
that have high quality black rhinoceros habitat. The same Fund supports
collaborative efforts to conserve Amur tiger habitat adjacent to the
Russia-China border, where the remaining population is estimated to be
only 350 adult tigers. Finally, the Marine Turtle Conservation Act
supports a project monitoring and protecting hawksbill turtle nesting
activity in the Pearl Keys in Nicaragua, while simultaneously
developing turtle-based ecotourism for the benefit of the local
community.
I commend these efforts to protect these highly endangered species.
I would like to thank the witnesses for coming to this hearing today
and I look forward to hearing more of these success stories and about
the vital importance of the Multinational Species Conservation Fund
during your testimonies.
______
Mr. Fleming. I thank the gentleman.
Based on the traditions of this Subcommittee, I would now
like to recognize the former esteemed Chairman of this
Committee and current Chairman of the Indian and Alaska Native
Affairs Subcommittee, the distinguished gentleman from Alaska,
Congressman Don Young, for any statement he would like to make
on this bill.
STATEMENT OF HON. DON YOUNG, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM
THE STATE OF ALASKA
Mr. Young. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you for
scheduling this hearing on my bill, H.R. 50. This measure will
extend the authority to approve the conservation grants under
the African Elephant Conservation Act, the Rhinoceros and Tiger
Conservation Act and the Asian Elephant Conservation Act.
In your invitation letter, as you said, you asked witnesses
to explain to this Congress why we should continue to
appropriate money, although our debt now exceeds $14 trillion.
This is a good question. I hope the witnesses today understand
that this is very, very important legislation and will testify
why we need the minor amount of money the Federal government
puts into this program.
It is no exaggeration to suggest that without the grants,
the populations of African and Asian elephants and rhinos and
tigers would continue to decline. By investing a very small
amount of U.S. taxpayer money, we have slowed that slide toward
extinction.
In 1988, in a rare moment of agreement, representatives of
the Humane Society of the United States and Safari Club
International came together in support of legislation to try to
stop the slaughter of African elephants. The result of that
agreement was the African Elephant Conservation Act.
In the past 23 years, Congress has extended this law on
four separate occasions. We have authorized $120 million to
conserve these species. In reality, however, we have
appropriated slightly more than $1 million a year. More
importantly, though, this $26 million has been matched by $90
million in private funds.
The battle to save the African elephant really is far from
over. In fact, the price of elephant ivory is now at $700 a
pound, and 100 elephants are poached every day in Africa. They
are being killed for their ivory, which is financing the
terrorist activities of many rebel groups, including those
associated with al-Qaeda.
H.R. 50 also extends the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation
Act, which was first enacted 17 years ago. Since that time, the
Congress has authorized $170 million, appropriated $21 million
and funded 505 conservation grants to assist highly endangered
rhinoceros and tigers. These taxpayer funds were matched by $34
million in private matching money.
While these grants have been helpful in stabilizing the
population of several subspecies of rhinoceros, sadly the
future of wild tigers is increasingly bleak. In fact, the
number of wild tigers has declined to as few as 3,000. It is
essential to extend the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act
because this fund is the only permanent source of money for
these species, and it is a lifeline for the survival of the
wild tigers.
Finally, my bill reauthorizes the Asian Elephant
Conservation Act. During the past 14 years, the Congress has
authorized $75 million for the Asian Elephant Conservation
Fund. However, just like the other two funds, significant
private money has been raised. It is crucially important that
we recognize that the funds also affect the great apes and
marine sea turtles.
Like many of my colleagues, I am committed to reducing our
staggering national debt. However, we are not going to
accomplish that goal on the backs of these landmark species. By
spending this small amount of money, we are contributing to
local economies which helps to stabilize the governments,
thereby minimizing potential national security costs for our
taxpayers in the future.
There are a series of articles, Mr. Chairman, that go all
the way back to when we introduced this bill, Mr. Miller and
myself. We created some good legislation, but if we are to be
involved and we give lots of assistance to the human side of it
across Africa, maybe not enough in some areas, but the idea of
this poaching that is going on now for very large, illegal
people, many from Somalia that are supporting the terrorists
against this country.
This is a worthwhile cause. It is a minor amount of money,
and I know under this debt there are a lot of other areas we
ought to be cutting. I urge the support of this legislation. I
look forward to our witnesses today to see what they have to
say and explain why these Federal dollars are extremely
important.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the time, but thanks
for listening to me.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Young follows:]
Statement of The Honorable Don Young, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Alaska, on H.R. 50, The Multinational Species Conservation
Funds Reauthorization Act
Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for scheduling this hearing on my
bill, H.R. 50. This measure will extend the authority to approve
conservation grants under the African Elephant Conservation Act, the
Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act and the Asian Elephant
Conservation Act.
In your invitation letter, you asked our witnesses why this
Congress should continue to appropriate money to these conservation
funds at a time when our national debt exceeds $14 trillion dollars.
Mr. Chairman, that is a fair and appropriate question.
It is no exaggeration to suggest that without the grants, the
populations of African and Asian elephants, rhinoceros and tigers would
continue to decline. By investing a small amount of U.S. taxpayer money
we have slowed their slide toward extinction.
In 1988, in a rare moment of agreement, representatives of the
Humane Society of the United States and Safari Club International came
together in support of legislation to try to stop the slaughter of
African elephants. The result of that agreement was the African
Elephant Conservation Act. In the past twenty three years, Congress has
extended this law on four separate occasions and we have authorized
$120 million to conserve this species. In reality, however, we have
appropriated slightly more than $1 million a year and, more
importantly, this $26 million has been matched by over $90 million in
private funds.
The battle to save the African elephant is far from over. In fact,
the price of elephant ivory is now more than $700 dollars a pound and
100 elephants are poached every day throughout Africa. They are being
killed for their ivory which is financing the terrorist activities of
many rebel groups including some associated with al-Qaeda.
H.R. 50 also extends the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act,
which was first enacted 17 years ago. Since that time, the Congress has
authorized $170 million, appropriated $21 million and funded 505
conservation grants to assist highly endangered rhinoceros and tigers.
These taxpayer funds were matched by $34 million in private matching
money.
While these grants have been helpful in stabilizing the population
of several subspecies of rhinoceros, sadly, the future of wild tigers
is increasingly bleak. In fact, the number of wild tigers has declined
to as few as 3,000. It is essential to extend the Rhinoceros and Tiger
Conservation Act because this Fund is the only permanent source of
money for these species and it is a lifeline for the survival of wild
tigers.
Finally, my bill reauthorizes the Asian Elephant Conservation Act.
During the past 14 years, the Congress has authorized $75 million for
the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund. However, just like the other two
funds, significantly less has been actually appropriated. In fact, $20
million has been allocated or about $1.5 million per year. These funds
were matched by $19 million in privately raised money. Together, these
funds allowed the Secretary of the Interior to finance 307 conservation
grants in 16 range countries.
Under the terms of the Multinational Species Conservation Funds
Reauthorization Act of 2011, these three conservation laws, which are
strongly supported by nearly every hunting, conservation and animal
rights organization, would be extended at existing funding levels for
an additional five years. Each of these funds supports animals that are
keystone--which means they are essential to the survival of hundreds of
other species.
For many range nations, a small grant of $25,000 represents the
only hope they have of stopping heavily armed and organized poachers
who are intent on killing the last African elephant, rhinoceros and
tiger. These three laws have been extremely effective but the job of
savings these species is not yet finished.
Some years ago, Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke in support of the
African Elephant Conservation Act. In his remarks, he noted that:
``This is a very small amount of money, but it is symbolically very
important, and symbolically important in part for the signal its sends
to people in Africa and Asia.''
I agree with the views of Speaker Gingrich and I am pleased that
H.R. 2584, the Interior Appropriations bill, allocates $7.8 million for
these Funds and those affecting Great Apes and Marine Sea Turtles. Like
many of my colleagues, I am committed to reducing our staggering
national debt. However, we are not going to accomplish that goal on the
backs of these landmark species. By spending this small amount of
money, we are contributing to local economies which helps to stabilize
governments thereby minimizing potential national security costs for
our taxpayers in the future.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
______
Mr. Fleming. I thank the gentleman and thank the
gentleman's efforts and commitment over the years for this.
Next the Chairman would like to recognize Mr. Markey, the
gentleman from Massachusetts, for an opening statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
Mr. Markey. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very much.
Rhinos and tigers and apes, oh my. Rhinos and tigers and apes,
oh my. Dorothy and the scarecrow and the tin man chanted a
similar verse to each other when they entered the dark and
creepy forest. They were calming their nerves from the fear of
meeting wild animals.
Today we are not in the dark forest, but I am chanting
because I am afraid we might not meet these wild animals.
Currently one-quarter of the mammals in the world are at risk
of extinction. We are in a place where we might live to see
majestic wild animals disappear from our planet. That is why it
is important to reauthorize the Multinational Species
Conservation Fund, which provides technical and grant
assistance to protect six charismatic species: Asian and
African elephants, rhino, tigers, apes and marine turtles.
I commend my colleagues, former Chairman Miller, former
Chairman Young, Congressman Pierluisi, for introducing
legislation supporting the cost effective and valuable
conservation of these rare and highly threatened species and
for ensuring continued U.S. leadership and commitment in
protecting, recovering and restoring wild animal populations in
their native habitat.
Why should we care about these charismatic species? The
population counts are enough to scare anyone. In the last 18
years, Sumatran rhinos declined to an estimated 300 individuals
in Malaysia and Indonesia. Once abundant throughout Asia, wild
tigers now number as few as 3,200 individuals who live in
fragmented groups in protected forests, refuges and national
parks. Recently discovered, only 300 Cross River gorillas
remain between Nigeria and Cameroon.
Potentially more frightening than these numbers are the
links between the rarity of these species and the global trade
in illegal wildlife. Just earlier this week a ton of elephant
ivory was seized from a Philadelphia art dealer, who faces a
maximum sentence of 20 years if convicted for violating the
Endangered Species Act. In total, this illicit economy is worth
$5 to $20 billion annually and has been linked to organized
crimes and drug trafficking internationally.
The Multinational Species Conservation Fund provides direct
benefits to national security by encouraging alternative
channels for diplomacy in conflict prone regions. Instead of
trying to find our way back home like Dorothy and Ian
Somerhalder's character in Lost, we should be on a quest to
save these wild animals and their homes because in fact we have
a responsibility to do more than just close our eyes and click
our heels together. We have a responsibility to make sure that
they are not lost from this earth. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Markey follows:]
Statement of The Honorable Edward J. Markey, Ranking Member,
Committee on Natural Resources
Rhinos and tigers and apes! Oh my!
Rhinos and tigers and apes! Oh my!
Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man chanted a similar verse to each
other when they entered the dark and creepy forest. They were calming
their nerves from the fear of meeting wild animals. Today, we are not
in the dark forest, but I am chanting because I am afraid we might NOT
meet these wild animals.
Currently, one quarter of the mammals in the world are at risk of
extinction. We are in a place where we might live to see majestic wild
animals disappear from our planet.
That is why it is important to reauthorize the Multinational
Species Conservation Fund, which provides technical and grant
assistance to protect six charismatic species--Asian and African
elephants, rhino, tigers, apes and marine turtles. I commend my
colleagues, Congressman Miller, Pierluisi, and Young for introducing
legislation supporting the cost-effective and valuable conservation of
these rare and highly threatened species and for ensuring continued
U.S. leadership and commitment in protecting, recovering, and restoring
wild animal populations in their native habitat.
Why should we care about these charismatic species? The population
counts are enough to scare anyone.
In the last 18 years, Sumatran rhinos declined to an
estimated 300 individuals remaining in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Once abundant throughout Asia, wild tigers now number
as few as 3,200 individuals who live in fragmented groups, in
protected forests, refuges, and national parks.
Recently discovered, only 300 Cross River gorillas
remain between Nigeria and Cameroon.
Potentially more frightening than these numbers are the links
between the rarity of these species and the global trade in illegal
wildlife. Just earlier this week, a ton of elephant ivory was seized
from a Philadelphia art dealer, who faces a maximum sentence of 20
years if convicted for violating the Endangered Species Act. In total,
this illicit economy is worth $5 to $20 billion annually, and has been
linked to organized crimes and drug trafficking internationally. The
Multinational Species Conservation Fund provides direct benefits to
national security by encouraging alternative channels for diplomacy in
conflict-prone regions.
Instead of trying to find our way back home, like Dorothy and Ian
Somerhalder's character in Lost, we should be on a quest to save these
wild animals and their homes because, in fact, we have a responsibility
to do more than just close our eyes and click our heels together. We
have a responsibility to make sure they are not Lost from this earth.
______
Mr. Fleming. I thank the gentleman.
I would now like to recognize one of our Subcommittee
colleagues, the gentleman from Puerto Rico, The Honorable Pedro
Pierluisi, for any opening statement he would like to make on
his bill, H.R. 1761.
STATEMENT OF HON. PEDRO R. PIERLUISI, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM PUERTO RICO
Mr. Pierluisi. Thank you, Chairman Fleming. First I want to
express my sincere gratitude to you and Ranking Member Sablan
for scheduling this hearing today on the three multinational
species conservation bills, including my bipartisan bill, H.R.
1761, the Marine Turtle Conservation Reauthorization Act.
I also thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting as a witness
my constituent, Carlos Diez, a biologist for 17 years with the
Government of Puerto Rico's Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Resources. I thank the other witnesses for
appearing today, including Teiko Saito for representing the
dedicated employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and
Ian Somerhalder, who is a great champion for wildlife
conservation.
Having survived for nearly 110 million years, marine
turtles are among the world's oldest species. Marine turtles,
like other majestic wildlife species that capture our hearts
and imaginations, are in peril. Once plentiful, six of the
seven documented species of marine turtles are listed today as
endangered, their survival threatened by various factors,
including human exploitation and encroachment into their
natural habitat.
Fortunately, we have in place a program at the Department
of the Interior that supports partnerships and projects around
the world to protect these species. This is because in 2004 in
the face of declining marine turtle populations worldwide
Congress enacted and President George Bush signed into law the
Marine Turtle Conservation Act. This Act, which expired at the
end of 2009, authorized the Fish and Wildlife Service to use a
small amount of Federal funding to support conservation efforts
aimed at saving these magnificent species.
Since 2005, the program has been highly successful.
Hundreds of applications have competed for $5.9 million in
appropriated funds, which in turn helped secure an additional
$8.6 million in nonFederal funds, a remarkable return on
investment. This program has served to position the United
States as the world's leader in marine turtle conservation.
As Puerto Rico's representative in Congress, I have
particularly keen interest in and special appreciation for
marine turtles. At least four of the seven species of marine
turtles are found in Puerto Rico's waters or nest on our
beaches. These turtle species are the leatherback, the
hawksbill, the green turtle and the loggerhead. Indeed, all of
the coastal waters surrounding Culebra Island and Mona Island
in Puerto Rico are designated as critical habitats by the
Federal government.
Mindful of the difficult fiscal environment, the bill I
have introduced would reauthorize this program from 2012 to
2017 at current funding levels. Importantly, the bill would
amend existing law to allow the Fish and Wildlife Service to
award grants for conservation projects within the United States
and its territories, a power the agency does not presently
possess.
This approach would ensure that Federal support is
available to conserve the six species of marine turtles listed
under the Endangered Species Act, all of which nest on U.S.
beaches or are found in U.S. waters. I believe the survival of
the species is important for its own sake and also because they
are instrumental in ensuring the health of the ocean ecosystem.
Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back the balance
of my time.
Mr. Fleming. I thank the gentleman.
I would now like to ask unanimous consent that the
gentleman from California, who is former Chairman of the
Committee, Congressman George Miller, be allowed to join us on
the dais and participate in the hearing. There being no
objection, so ordered.
I recognize Mr. Miller for any opening statement he would
like to make on this bill, H.R. 1760.
STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE MILLER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Mr. Miller. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I am
glad that Mr. Young didn't object. I appreciate it. Actually,
Mr. Young and I have a long history of working together on a
lot of issues before this Committee.
But thank you so much for this hearing, for taking the time
of the Committee to make this inquiry on these three pieces of
legislation. These are very important pieces of legislation. I
think you are asking the right question at the right time about
the use of our Federal resources, of our taxpayer dollars.
I think every taxpayer in America would be very proud to
see the extent to which their dollars are leveraged in this
program, the extent to which their dollars create the need for
governments that would otherwise be reluctant to match our
effort, to see what it brings in the nonprofit world in terms
of that leverage but, more importantly, the commitment that has
been created over the years in countries that had no capacity,
perhaps not very much concern in fact, about these magnificent
species to now having programs of commitment there.
This is really sort of twofold. It provides a great
opportunity for leverage, but it also is a great example of
American leadership in a number of instances, in very troubled
parts of the world where we speak to the needs of the people in
those regions, in those countries, in those habitats, and are
able to bring this kind of positive result.
I will also say that what this program does is it creates
the atmosphere so some very, very brave people are willing to
risk their personal well being, their lives in fact, to come
forward and provide the protection for in the case of my
legislation the great apes from being slaughtered either within
warfare or within the poaching that Mr. Young talked about that
attacks the elephants. These people pay a great price, but this
is the program that gives them the organizational ability to
join up.
I had the opportunity a number of years ago to spend a
very, very early morning, like 3:00 in the morning, waiting to
go out with some citizens of Kenya who were there to fight the
poachers. As we sat and had some cups of tea and talked about
their job, I asked them at one point as the sun was getting
ready to come up. I said, ``So what do you do when you find
these poachers?'' He said, ``We shoot them.'' I was stunned. I
said, ``Why do you shoot them?'' He said, ``Because if they see
us first, they will shoot us.''
That is how serious this effort is. When you see an
elephant--when you see an elephant, a healthy, mature
elephant--lying on the ground that somebody has taken a
chainsaw to its tusk, you realize how important this
infrastructure is.
We know the impact of these species--the lions and the
elephants and the apes and our turtles--on our children, and
that is true of children across the world. This relatively
small amount of money--I know we always get a little worried
when we get disconnected from our districts to Washington on
what is large and small expenditures.
This money creates the opportunity that the scientists and
the program people will talk about today, and it also I think
gives Congress an opportunity to every now and then go home and
talk about our successes, which is hard to do sometimes, but
this is a magnificent example of success under the American
flag in some of the most troubled areas of the world.
So thank you so much for the opportunity to have my say and
to also give the time over to this Committee to the
consideration of the reauthorization of these programs. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Fleming. I thank the gentleman for his comments and
again his commitment over the years as well.
Now we will begin to hear from our witnesses. Like all
witnesses, your written testimony will appear in full in the
hearing record, so I ask that you keep your oral statements to
five minutes as outlined in our invitation letter to you and
under Committee Rule 4[a].
Our microphones are not automatic, so please press the
button when you are ready to begin. You have to sort of get
close too. Sometimes they don't pick up well.
Let me explain how the timing light works. For the first
four minutes you will have a green light, the last minute you
will have a yellow light and then when it turns red we ask that
you wrap up. We have a lot of witnesses today, so we certainly
want to be judicious about our time.
Now I would like to welcome today's witnesses. First we
have Ms. Teiko Saito, Assistant Director for International
Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Mr. Ian Somerhalder,
an actor and founder of the Ian Somerhalder Foundation, who
will be representing the Multinational Species Conservation
Coalition and, as I understand it, from my own backyard in
Louisiana, Covington. Welcome.
Dr. John Robinson, Executive Vice President, Conservation
Science, Wildlife Conservation Society; Dr. Tara Stoinski
representing Zoo Atlanta and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
International; Mr. Carlos Diez, National Coordinator, Marine
Turtle Project Program, Puerto Rico Natural Resources Agency;
and Mr. Joseph Hosmer--am I saying that right, sir--President,
Safari Club International Foundation.
Ms. Saito, you are now recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF TEIKO SAITO, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
Ms. Saito. Good morning, Chairman Fleming and Members of
the Subcommittee. I am Teiko Saito, Assistant Director for
International Affairs of the Fish and Wildlife Service within
the Department of the Interior. Thank you for the opportunity
to testify on H.R. 50, H.R. 1760 and H.R. 1761.
The Department strongly supports these bills, which would
reauthorize the Multinational Species Funds. We greatly
appreciate the Committee's continued leadership and support of
international wildlife conservation.
The Multinational Species Conservation Fund provides
critical support for the conservation of some of the world's
rarest and threatened species in their natural habitats,
including African and Asian elephants, rhinos, tigers, great
apes and marine turtles. These species are ecologically
important and aesthetically invaluable to Americans and people
around the world. These conservation funds represent the United
States' commitment to conserving these awesome species in the
wild.
All of the animals I mentioned face numerous threats,
including poaching and habitat loss. The grant programs
established through the Multinational Species Conservation
Funds provide technical assistance, cost-shared grants to range
countries. These include helping range countries build law
enforcement and management capacity, conducting conservation
education, surveys, monitoring, protecting habitat, conducting
essential applied research and providing economic incentives
for conservation.
These conservation funds are the foundations for hundreds
of projects around the world that address the needs of highly
endangered species, and they provide focus and efficient
support. From 2006 through 2010 collectively, the Multinational
Species Conservation Funds have supported 967 projects with
$53.6 million in grant funding and $84.6 million in matching
contributions from our dedicated partners. From 2006 to 2010,
the funds leveraged significant matching resources, achieving a
1.6 match for every dollar spent.
These conservation funds are an effective instrument to
provide immediate and long range benefits for the conservation
of these special species. In many cases, this is the only
government dedicated funding for these species. The funds often
initiate important projects that otherwise would not get off
the ground, encouraging the support of other donors. Their
impact is increasing as they achieve significant matching
resources from a growing list of outside partners. The funds
help secure the interest and commitment of governments and
communities around the world.
My written testimony highlights many examples of the
importance of this funding for the survival of these keystone
species, and I will briefly mention a couple of them. Prior to
support from the Marine Turtle Conservation Fund, about 25
percent of the Cape Verde loggerhead females were killed each
year due to poaching. Support through the Marine Turtle
Conservation Fund stopped virtually all non-natural deaths by
supporting a coalition of three nongovernment organizations to
work with local municipalities and national governments to
reduce poaching.
Another example involves the Rhino and Tiger Conservation
Fund. This fund provided rhino protection units. These are law
enforcement units which have been able to stop poachers from
returning to protected areas. Given the value of rhino horns on
the international market, it is estimated that the 200 rhinos
remaining in Sumatra would be killed within five years and the
40 rhinos remaining in Java would be killed within one year
without the enforcement resources provided by the Rhino and
Tiger Conservation Fund. The rhino protection units in Sumatra
also help protect Asian elephants there.
Mr. Chairman and Subcommittee Members, thank you again for
the opportunity to testify. We really greatly appreciate your
leadership in the conservation of these rare, globally
important species and look forward to working with you as you
continue to consider these bills.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Saito follows:]
Statement of Teiko Saito, Assistant Director for International Affairs,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, on
H.R. 50, The Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization
Act of 2011; H.R. 1760, The Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization
Amendments Act of 2011; and H.R. 1761, The Marine Turtle Conservation
Reauthorization Act of 2011
Chairman Fleming and Members of the Subcommittee, I am Teiko Saito,
Assistant Director for International Affairs for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), Department of the Interior (Department).
The Department appreciates this opportunity to testify on H.R. 50,
the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act of
2011; H.R. 1761, the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Amendments
Act of 2011; H.R. 1760, the Marine Turtle Conservation Reauthorization
Act of 2011; and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service)
implementation of these international conservation Acts.
The Department strongly supports these bills, and we greatly
appreciate the Subcommittee's continued leadership in international
conservation. The Service has a long history of proactively addressing
international wildlife species conservation. We work with private
citizens, local communities, state and federal agencies, foreign
governments, native peoples, and nongovernmental organizations to
promote coordinated domestic and international strategies to protect,
restore, and enhance wildlife and habitats. The Service is the agency
charged with implementing the United States' obligations under several
international conservation treaties, including the Convention on
Wetlands of International Importance, the Convention on Nature
Protection and Wild Life Preservation in the Western Hemisphere, and
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES). Technical expertise and an on-the-ground
presence through international agreements and other programs give the
Service a unique role in conserving species and habitats around the
world. The Multinational Species Conservation Funds (MSCFs) support the
conservation of some of the world's rarest and most threatened species
in their natural habitats, including the African elephant and Asian
elephant, as well as rhinoceros, tigers, great apes, and marine
turtles.
The grant programs established through these Acts provide technical
and cost-sharing grant assistance to range countries for species
conservation and as such are a key element of the Service's Wildlife
Without Borders-Species programs. These Acts represent the nation's
commitment to help support conservation of rare and highly threatened
species in the wild. In many cases, this is the only government
dedicated funding for these particular species. The MSCFs provide
opportunity for projects that otherwise would not get off the ground,
encouraging other donors to support innovative and effective
conservation efforts. They achieve significant leveraging of funds from
a growing list of outside partners, which has greatly increased the
impact of these grant programs. With a modest investment, the MSCFs are
able to promote unprecedented achievements in the conservation of
elephants, rhinos, tigers, great apes, and marine turtles. The funds
help secure the interest and commitment of governments and communities
around the world.
H.R. 50, the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization
Act of 2011
The Service strongly supports H.R. 50, the Multinational Species
Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act of 2011, which reauthorizes the
three longest-running Multinational Species Conservation Acts: the
African Elephant Conservation Act, the Rhinoceros and Tiger
Conservation Act, and the Asian Elephant Conservation Act.
The African Elephant Conservation Act
African elephant populations are threatened by poaching, loss of
habitat, and conflicts with humans. In the late 1970s, when elephant
populations were thought to number about 1.3 million, the value of
ivory skyrocketed in international markets from $7.50 per kilogram to
over $400 per kilogram. This upsurge in ivory trafficking is believed
to have cut Africa's elephant population in half. In 1989, the species
was listed as Appendix I of CITES, making it illegal to trade in
elephants or ivory commercially. Since then, populations have
stabilized or recovered in a few southern African countries, but
continued to decline in others.
A new onslaught of poaching threatens elephants in some areas,
while in others, elephants are increasingly coming into conflict with
growing human settlements and farms. Most countries supporting wild
populations of elephants are struggling to conserve them. Commercial
poaching for meat and ivory, combined with instability from political
conflict and civil war, have devastated many elephant populations,
particularly in forest habitat of Central Africa. The Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), home to an estimated 112,000 elephants in
1992, is now feared to have only six populations of little more than
500 elephants. Vast areas that were occupied by elephants as recently
as a decade ago are now devoid of these forest giants. The current
continental population of savannah and forest elephants is estimated to
be 500,000 to 600,000, but these increasing threats cloud the future of
African elephant populations.
The African Elephant Conservation Act, authorized by Congress in
1988, created the African Elephant Conservation Fund (AfECF), which
plays a critical role in assisting range countries to conserve and
manage elephants and their habitats. From 2006 through 2010, the AfECF
supported 138 projects with $8.2 million in grant funding and $22.2
million in matching contributions from partners and collaborators.
Projects funded include assisting range countries to build law
enforcement and management capacity, mitigating human-elephant
conflict, conducting conservation education, conducting surveys and
monitoring, establishing corridors, and conducting essential applied
research.
For example, with this funding, the local wildlife authority in the
DRC has been able to build patrol posts and train and equip rangers in
and around Okapi Faunal Reserve and Virunga National Park. Trained
officers have improved relations with local residents, removed
thousands of snares, disarmed militias, and disbanded illegal bushmeat
and charcoal operations in the protected areas.
In other areas, such as in southern Africa, the elephants in
protected areas are increasingly surrounded by human settlements and
are becoming isolated, stressing the vegetation upon which elephants
and other wildlife depend. Elephants moving through human settlements
and farms come into conflict with humans trying to protect their homes
and crops. Farmers may lose their crops, resulting in lost income, and
they may even lose their lives when they attempt to defend their
fields. Elephants may suffer debilitating injuries and are often killed
in retaliation for raiding crops.
The AfECF has supported research in Amboseli National Park in
southern Kenya where agriculture is rapidly encroaching on elephant
range. Support from the Fund allowed for collaboration between Duke
University and the Amboseli Elephant Research Project to interpret crop
raiding behavior to determine how such behavior begins and whether it
is more common in related individuals or is influenced by other life
history traits and social characteristics. This research will provide
information crucial to understanding and managing human-elephant
conflict.
The Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act
Rhino and tiger populations are particularly targeted by poachers
because their body parts are in high demand on the global black market.
Tiger organs and bones and rhino horns are used in Asian medicines and
sold to consumers who believe these animal products convey strength,
health, and virility. Rhino horns are also carved for dagger handles as
a coveted status symbol in the Middle East
The Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act, authorized by Congress
in 1994, has greatly assisted efforts to conserve the five rhino
species (African and Asian) and five extant wild tiger sub-species.
This is the only government-sponsored dedicated funding source for
conservation of wild tigers in the world. From 2006 through 2010, the
Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund (RTCF) supported 228 projects
with $10.6 million in grant funding, and $18 million in matching
contributions from partners and collaborators. A variety of projects
have been funded, including surveys, conservation education, law
enforcement, habitat protection, and capacity building.
In Africa, there are two rhinoceros species: black rhinos and white
rhinos. At one time, there were, among the black and white rhino
species, five total subspecies. In the last ten years, two African
rhino subspecies have gone extinct in the wild. Before 1900, Africa had
more than one million rhinos, and they occurred in most sub-Saharan
countries. But, by the 1990s, rhinos were extinct in many range states.
Only 2,300 black rhinos and fewer than 10,000 white rhinos survived.
Today, through support from the RTCF and tremendous dedication and
sacrifice by our partners in Africa, black rhinos have slowly begun to
recover, with a current population of more than 4,800. White rhinos are
also recovering and now number more than 20,000, but a recent upsurge
in rhino poaching threatens to undermine years of progress.
Through the RTCF, the Service provides critical support to increase
the capacity of park guards and wildlife management authorities to
address poaching and other threats to rhinos in Africa. The RTCF
provided infrastructure, training, and logistical support for the
reintroduction of black rhinos to North Luangwa National Park in Zambia
and to augment populations of rhinos in Serengeti and Mkomazi in
Tanzania and at conservancies in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South
Africa. Funds are continually needed to keep rhino populations safe
throughout their remaining range.
Asia supports three rhino species: the Indian rhino (or greater
one-horned rhino), the Sumatran rhino, and the Javan rhino. The
Sumatran and Javan rhinos in Southeast Asia are the most endangered,
with only 200 and between 37-45 remaining, respectively. Strict
protections, coupled with significant support from the RTCF and its
partners, has increased numbers of the Indian rhino from fewer than 200
early in the 20th century to an estimated 2,850 today.
The RTCF is strengthening our partners that work with wildlife
authorities in Nepal, as well as the police and the army, to assist in
the identification and arrest of the poachers who have so badly damaged
the country's rhino population in recent years. In Indonesia, the RTCF
has partnered with the Indonesian Forest Department and a non-
government organization in support of highly effective, critically
needed, anti-poaching patrols that protect Sumatran and Javan rhinos.
These projects will increase rhino protection and law enforcement,
reducing poaching of the most endangered rhino species in the world.
Wild tigers, once abundant throughout Asia, now live in small
fragmented groups, mostly in protected forests, refuges, and national
parks. In general these populations are in decline. Tigers now occupy
only 7 percent of their historic range and 40 percent less habitat than
10 years ago. Recent surveys indicate the South China tiger may have
become extinct in the wild, with only 47 remaining in China's zoos.
There are many threats to the survival of wild tigers in addition
to poaching including habitat destruction, loss of prey, and conflicts
with human settlements. Experts estimate that more than 500 tigers are
killed each year across their range. The illegal trade in tiger skins
and in tiger bones for health tonics has resulted in the total loss of
tiger populations in places such as India's Sariska Tiger Reserve. In
addition to poaching-for-profit, tigers are killed by local villagers
who fear attacks on humans or livestock. As human populations expand
further into the habitats of wild animals, the resulting conflict poses
a serious threat to both human and animal safety.
The RTCF has supported projects throughout Asia aimed at conserving
and protecting tigers and their habitat by building the capacity of
poaching response teams and educating people living near tiger areas.
For example, the critically endangered subspecies, the Russian ``Amur''
tiger, has been the focus of a successful, long-term anti-poaching
campaign through the Phoenix Fund. With the RTCF's support, the
campaign and associated annual tiger festivals reached thousands in
Vladivostok and other cities throughout Russian province, Primorskii
Krai. Grants have supported the development of curricula for hundreds
of classrooms in the Krai, to teach students at all levels about tiger
biology and conservation. A recent grant award funded a ``Teachers for
Tigers'' manual that will increase the effectiveness of tiger
conservation education efforts.
In November 2010, the U.S. government attended the International
Forum on Tiger Conservation in St. Petersburg, Russia, and endorsed the
goal of doubling the number of tigers in the wild by 2022. Fulfilling
that goal will take continued financial commitment from the U.S. and
other international funding sources.
The Asian Elephant Conservation Act
Large herds of elephants once roamed freely throughout the forests
and savannas of Asia. Today, fewer than 40,000 Asian elephants exist in
the wild, half of these in India. Habitat loss, poaching and human-
elephant conflicts are the largest threat to the survival of these
animals in the wild.
The Asian Elephant Conservation Act, authorized by Congress in
1997, has greatly enhanced the conservation status of the Asian
elephant. The Act supports the efforts of a wide range of partners to
train wildlife professionals, improve law enforcement capacity,
mitigate human-elephant conflict, establish community development
programs, undertake applied research, raise awareness of elephant
conservation issues, provide education programs, establish elephant
corridors that minimize habitat fragmentation, and support the ongoing
efforts of the 13 range country governments to survey, monitor, and
develop effective elephant management strategies. From 2006 through
2010, the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund (AsECF) supported 161
projects with $8 million in grant funding and $10.2 million in matching
contributions from partners and collaborators.
Elephants require significant natural resources to survive. Mature
bulls weigh as much as 11,000 pounds, and each elephant consumes more
than 440 pounds of vegetation and 52 gallons of water every day. Each
animal needs a ``living space'' of 80 square miles. Continued
destruction of habitat and increased human settlement in areas
previously occupied by elephants has resulted in rising incidents of
crop-raiding and subsequent conflict with human communities. Similar to
some African elephant populations, frequent raids by Asian elephants
into agricultural fields, coupled with attempts by farmers to chase the
animals away, often result in tragedy for both elephants and humans.
The AsECF is supporting the development of new approaches to manage
crop-raiding. A community operated elephant early warning system is now
assisting villagers to protect their crops, reducing human wildlife
conflict in Sri Lankan villages. With funding from the AsECF, the Sri
Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society has developed an elephant intrusion
early warning system called ``EleAlert''. The system supports electric
fences around communities to keep elephants out rather than fence them
in national parks. The system is completely operated and maintained by
local villagers and provides the community with an audible alarm when
an elephant intrusion occurs. It is estimated that the early warning
system will allow villagers to identify problem fencing areas and
points of elephant intrusions, thus helping to reduce the amount of
crop and property damage.
On the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, human-elephant conflict in
previous decades led to the disappearance of at least nine populations
of elephants. To ensure the survival of the remaining three elephant
populations, the AsECF is supporting a promising new strategy that
incorporates a training program, community guards, alarm systems, and
elephant deterrents in five target villages around Way Kambas National
Park. In Sri Lanka, the AsECF supported a project to monitor elephant
movement and behavior within Yala National park and surrounding lands
to develop an appropriate buffer zone to mitigate human-elephant
conflict outside the park. The results of the project have not only
yielded benefits for elephants and local communities in and around Yala
National Park but are also changing the overall approach to elephant
management in Sri Lanka.
Poaching also poses a serious threat to survival for all
populations. In parts of India, the poaching of male tuskers is
altering the male Asian elephant population to include mainly tusk-less
males known as ``mukhnas.'' The loss of males in general and tusked
males in particular has resulted in highly skewed sex ratios in many
wild Asian elephant populations. Tusks are very important behaviorally
in dominance heirarchy, to attract mates, to fend off predators, to be
used as a tool for digging and peeling bark. The AsECF provides support
for law enforcement across the range countries especially in protected
areas to prevent poaching for ivory and other products. This fund is
working with the Forest Department law enforcement authorities in
northeast India to protect Asian elephants in this important area for
Asian elephants. The AsECF is also supporting law enforcement and
protection for Asian elephants in Sumatra, Thailand, and Malaysia. The
AsECF provided significant support for the Management Information
System program, which is being used by many SE Asian countries to
monitor their law enforcement effort.
Through all of the MSCFs discussed above, the Service has
implemented a streamlined process that allows for timely approval of
projects and quick response to emergency situations. Each project
funded is a cooperative effort with foreign governments, non-
governmental organizations, or private sector entities. No in-country
project is approved unless it has the full support of in-country
government officials, and has been identified as a project that will
address the country's conservation priorities. Funding is delivered to
the field rapidly and efficiently to target the most critical
conservation needs. To implement these programs, the Service works with
conservation partners within the U.S. and the range countries. These
collaborators have vast on-the-ground experience and are experts on the
ecology of the species as well as the human dimensions of conservation.
H.R. 1760, the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Amendments Act of
2011
The Service strongly supports H.R. 1760, the Great Ape
Conservation Reauthorization Amendments Act of 2011, which leverages
conservation actions to conserve more than 20 species of apes in Africa
and Asia. The Great Ape Conservation Act (Act) was authorized by
Congress in 2000 and created the Great Ape Conservation Fund (GACF) to
assist efforts to conserve gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos in
Africa, and orangutans and gibbons in Asia. H.R. 1760 would support
great ape conservation by increasing the capacity of foreign
governments, wildlife managers, local communities, and other
organizations to address primary threats to the great apes, including
habitat loss, illegal hunting, and the illegal pet trade.
The GACF provides financial and technical support for a variety of
projects and efforts. These include building institutional and human
resource capacity, improving law enforcement, educating local
communities about conservation issues, and providing economic
incentives for conservation. In addition, GACF provides support for
collecting key scientific data on ape species that are greatly needed
to achieve ape conservation. This includes research related to
distribution, population status, and infectious diseases. From 2006
through 2010, the GACF supported 293 projects with $21.2 million in
grant funding (also including funding transferred from the U.S. Agency
for International Development Central Africa Regional Program for the
Environment) to the GACF, and $25.8 million in matching contributions
from partners and collaborators. Much of the success of the GACF is due
to its direct and coordinated support of on-the-ground conservation
projects in Africa and Asia. In Africa, the two countries containing 75
percent of the gorilla population, the Republic of Congo and Gabon,
experienced more than a 50 percent reduction in the gorilla population
between 1983-2000. As a result, identifying and protecting the last
great areas of significant great ape conservation interest is a
priority under the Great Ape Conservation Act.
For example, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a partner in
the Republic of Congo, was awarded several small grants over a period
of six years to determine gorilla status in the country. Surveys and
other research done by their field teams produced an encouraging
estimate of 125,000 western lowland gorillas in a vast area known as
the `green abyss.' While this area was known as having significant
potential to hold populations of gorillas and other wildlife, until the
forests were studied, no one realized the potential of this and other
large areas of intact forest to the conservation of great apes. There
are numerous other such places that need surveys and, more importantly,
immediate and effective conservation projects on the ground.
In Asia, the wild population of orangutans is estimated at 50,000
to 60,000 individuals. Orangutans are critically endangered due to
habitat loss from logging, peat land drainage, and a rapid expansion in
palm oil plantations. Orangutans are killed for meat, medicinal
purposes, and for raiding agricultural fields, while infants are taken
for the pet trade. Left unchecked, such factors will lead to
extinction. The GACF is strengthening conservation of both orangutans
and gibbons, tackling many similar threats and population declines.
An innovative ongoing project in Indonesia's Gunung Palung National
Park aims to incentivize the protection of critical orangutan habitat
from illegal logging by providing healthcare benefits to communities
that engage in reforestation efforts and organic farming. The GACF is
supporting partner Health and Harmony in these efforts. The project not
only directly benefits orangutans but also provides conservation-
related alternative livelihoods and healthcare to villagers in need, as
well as critical field training for Indonesian medical practitioners.
Grant funding has directly supported a conservation education room for
local villagers, maps of degraded areas, a seedling nursery and an
economically sustainable reforestation program. More than 20 villages
are now participating in the program and are working to protect the
orangutan's habitat.
Perhaps the greatest threat to gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos
in Africa, and to a lesser degree, orangutans and gibbons in Southeast
Asia, is the illegal trade in bushmeat. Although apes comprise a small
proportion of bushmeat production, poachers target them as their meat
commands a premium price. Scientists have linked the consumption of
bushmeat from apes to human contraction of the Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever
virus. In addition, there is convincing scientific evidence linking the
origin of HIV/AIDS to the consumption of chimpanzee meat. The risk of
viruses of Ebola and HIV/AIDS being transferred between species poses
incalculable danger to humanity. Ape bushmeat, as a known vector of
fatal viral infections between gorillas and people, is therefore one of
the greatest dangers to both wildlife and people in Central Africa.
With support from the GACF, our partners such as the WCS's Global
Health Program and the government of Congo conducted extensive field
studies and established a rapid-response capacity in the event of
further outbreaks of the Ebola virus. Working with African health
officials and local communities, they made significant strides to
create a first line of defense against this devastating disease that
severely threatens both apes and humans.
Section 2 of H.R. 1760 clarifies the Secretary's authority to issue
multiyear grants, enabling the program to be more flexible in meeting
the needs of grant recipients and allowing for increased capacity and
stability to long-term projects in high priority areas. Overall, this
provision will position the Service to better address the long-term
threats facing ape populations throughout Africa and Asia. With regard
to the requirement in Section 2 for a Panel of Experts, the Service has
already taken steps to create such a panel. However, the creation and
coordination of the panel will require resources above those committed
to our existing responsibilities under the Great Ape Conservation Act.
H.R. 1761, the Marine Turtle Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2011
The Service supports H.R. 1761, the Marine Turtle Conservation
Reauthorization Act (MTCA) of 2011, with qualifications detailed in the
comments below. This Act addresses some of the most urgent conservation
issues regarding marine turtles. Marine turtles are ``flagship
species'' for both local and international coastal conservation.
Because marine turtles circumnavigate the world's oceans to reach their
nesting beaches, their conservation must be addressed through global
efforts. By focusing on these species and their habitats, we can more
adequately conserve and manage ecologically critical coastal and marine
habitats around the world.
Less than 60 years ago, marine turtles were abundant, and
widespread nesting on beaches was common. Today however, six of the
seven marine turtle species (Kemp's ridley, Olive ridley, Loggerhead,
Leatherback, Hawksbill, and Green turtle) are listed as endangered or
threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). All seven species
are included in Appendix 1 of CITES. Because they disperse and migrate
throughout the world's oceans, they are important indicators of coastal
and marine environmental health on local, regional, and global scales.
To recover depleted marine turtle populations, the Service has
worked closely with countries supporting nesting beaches and with our
sister federal agencies in sustained, long-term conservation efforts.
For example, surveys of the Kemp's ridley turtles on a nesting beach in
northeastern Mexico showed a drop from more than 40,000 nesting females
estimated on one day in 1947 to fewer than 270 nesting females for the
entire nesting season in 1985. The Service has worked with the Mexican
government since 1978 to support nest protection measures that were
first implemented in Mexico in the late 1960s, and this, along with the
implementation in the 1990s of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in
commercial fishing, has reversed this downward trend. During the mid-
1990s, surveys showed sustained increases in the number of recorded
Kemp's ridley nests. In 2009 approximately 21,000 nests were recorded
in Mexico.
The future sustainability of marine turtles remains uncertain,
however. In addition to threats facing nesting beach habitat, marine
turtle populations continue to be threatened by exploitation of eggs
and turtles, trade in turtle parts, and bycatch mortality. And,
overall, nesting populations for most species have declined worldwide,
except for the nesting populations receiving long-term, sustained
conservation, such as the U.S.-Mexico bi-national effort for Kemp's
ridley turtles or the conservation of globally significant hawksbill
nesting populations in Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
Since its enactment in 2004, the Marine Turtle Conservation Act has
enabled the Service to support intensified nesting beach conservation
on critical leatherback beaches in the Pacific in Mexico, Costa Rica,
Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It is also playing a vital role in
preventing a similar population crash of the West Africa leatherback
nesting population. Based on an initiative in Gabon in 2005, the
Service has helped organize governments and partners to work more
closely together on nesting beaches, including nest protection on the
key nesting beaches in Gabon and Congo subject to heavy exploitation.
The Service has also helped establish community-based conservation
programs with partners on remnant nesting populations in Liberia and
Sierra Leone. From 2006 through 2010, the Marine Turtle Conservation
Fund (MTCF) supported 147 projects with $5.6 million in grant funding,
and $8.4 million in matching contributions from partners and
collaborators.
The MTCF works with local communities to raise awareness and halt
the harvest on nesting beaches. The nesting population of Hawksbill
turtles on Chirqui Beach in Panama was once the largest in the
Caribbean, but decades of poaching for their shells completely
devastated this important nesting site. The MTCF provided support to
the Sea Turtle Conservancy to conduct extensive community outreach,
beach monitoring, and protection of the nesting hawksbills in an effort
to help the population recover. Public outreach and engagement with the
local Ngobe Indian communities has been successful in reducing the
poaching of nests and turtles on the beach, as well as reducing the
capture of juvenile and adult turtles at sea by local fishermen. The
project engages a broad coalition of partners from governments,
communities, and NGOs, involving local communities, schools, and other
stakeholders to build community support. The project has led to an
impressive increase in the number of hawksbill nests over the last
seven years and is now viewed as a model marine turtle conservation
project.
H.R. 1761 would enable the Service to continue in its role as a
provider of dedicated funding for comprehensive, global coordination
and collaboration in developing countries where resources and capacity
for marine turtle conservation are limited.
The Service recommends that the Subcommittee consider amending the
bill's language authorizing the use of up to twenty percent of MTCA
appropriations for domestic marine turtle conservation to instead
authorize up to 20% of appropriated funds toward protecting freshwater
turtles and tortoises worldwide.
While marine turtle conservation continues to be a critical
conservation need, we also recognize that freshwater turtles and
tortoises are severely imperiled. Among the more than 300 species of
freshwater turtles worldwide, twenty-five percent are facing imminent
peril or extinction in the next decade. By bringing a focus to these
species and their habitats, H.R. 1761 would allow us to leverage funds
and attention to ecologically critical areas of the planet that need to
be considered and managed more adequately.
Conclusion
Mr. Chairman and Subcommittee Members, thank you again for this
opportunity to update the Subcommittee on the Service's implementation
of these Multinational Species Conservation Funds. We greatly
appreciate your interest and your leadership in the conservation of
rare, globally important species, and we look forward to working with
you as you continue to consider the bills heard before the Subcommittee
today. The Multinational Species Conservation Acts have formed the
foundation for hundreds of projects around the world to address the
needs of highly endangered species. These Acts produce focused and
efficient support for the conservation of species that are ecologically
important and aesthetically invaluable to Americans and people around
the world. The Funds created by the Acts leverage significant matching
resources, achieving a $1.60 match for every $1.00 spent from 2006
through 2010. We firmly believe that the Multinational Species
Conservation Funds are the most effective instrument in existence to
provide immediate and long-term benefits for the conservation of these
species.
______
Mr. Fleming. Thank you, Ms. Saito, for your testimony.
Now I recognize Mr. Ian Somerhalder, originally from
Covington, as I said, and you now have, sir, five minutes.
STATEMENT OF IAN SOMERHALDER, CELEBRITY SPOKESMAN,
MULTINATIONAL SPECIES CONSERVATION FUND COALITION
Mr. Somerhalder. Good morning, Chairman Fleming, Ranking
Member Sablan and Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Ian
Somerhalder. I am an actor and founder of the Ian Somerhalder
Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering,
educating and collaborating with people to help them positively
impact the planet and its creatures. I am also a global
Ambassador for the Alliance for Global Conservation.
I appreciate this opportunity to testify before you today
on the legislation before us, the Multinational Species
Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act. I would also like to
take this opportunity to thank the Subcommittee and especially
Chairman Fleming, who represents my home State of Louisiana,
for the invitation to join him today.
Environmental conservation has not just been a passion of
mine, but a priority, and when I began to find through my work
as an actor that I was gaining an increasingly prominent
platform in front of the American public, I knew immediately
what I needed to do. The IS Foundation is my attempt to use
this opportunity to share the public's attention for the
greater good.
The IS Foundation, which has dozens of affiliate groups
around the world as far off as India and Algeria, focuses on
three themes: habitat conservation, species protection, and
green energy initiatives. Our goal is to support a range of
projects from more established, mature initiatives like the
Alliance for Global Conservation to smaller, grassroots efforts
initiated by individuals on the Gulf Coast and many other local
communities.
So the hope is that we can demonstrate ways for everyone to
contribute on any scale, and we want to start conversations on
these issues and allow them to grow and evolve naturally, so
when a particular issue gathers enough momentum we will lend
the resources needed to transform it from a conversation to a
project, from a project into real progress.
But in talking to people, especially young people, around
the country I have found time and time again that the issue of
species conservation is a particularly resonant one, and people
are very passionate. They are passionately attached to the
creatures that have captured their attention and their
imagination since childhood, and they are invested in doing
whatever is necessary to protect them. Species conservation is
beyond a doubt an issue that truly matters to the American
public. We are lucky in this case because most of our beloved
species are clinging to survival by a thread.
The legislation initially enacted in 1990 is viewed
globally as a success story. With the U.S. leading the effort,
governments around the world are able to begin investing in
their ecosystems. From the Congo to Southern Sudan, we are
finding that species conservation is paying off in terms of
both the environment and local government action.
As Congress considers H.R. 50, I thought it would be useful
quickly to discuss the species that benefit from the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service leadership in conservation: Asian and
African elephants, apes, the plight of tigers and rhinos, but
in the consideration of time let me address the marine turtles
as an example of the desperate plight and the important
opportunity we have to take action and continue to strengthen
our collective efforts. I addressed the full impact of the
other species I mentioned in my written testimony submitted for
the record.
Six of the seven marine turtle species are listed as
threatened or endangered by the World Conservation Union and
under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Because marine turtles
take 10 to 40 years to reach sexual maturity, they are
vulnerable to predators, oil spills and bycatch, so restoring
their numbers is a lengthy and very delicate task. They are
truly the ancient mariners of our oceans with ancestors dating
back over 100 million years.
So while all species require tropical, subtropical or
temperate oceanic beaches for nesting, each has a specific
marine habitat and feeding requirements. I was very fortunate
to go down to Trinidad and Tobago and watch these leatherbacks
come out of the ocean under the cover of darkness and lay their
eggs very artfully into the sand. It was every more gratifying
that I actually got to see these hatchlings coming up out of
the sand. It was amazing. They instinctually find their way
back to the ocean, obviously still unfortunately facing an
uncertain future.
But there is a specific chain of events that occurs when
these turtle populations drop. Loss of these turtle populations
leads to an explosion of jellyfish populations, which can kill
lower level food chain fish, which in turn have an impact on
tuna and swordfish, which are big contributors to the human
population. So we have already seen this increase in our
beaches and, as you know, Chairman Fleming, it could have
drastic fisheries implications in our home state.
My foundation is in 190 countries at this point with a lot
of global outreach, and I just want you to know that the
ideology is backed by passion and commitment, so I just want to
ask that the Subcommittee move quickly to mark up H.R. 50 and
reauthorize this very important piece of legislation. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Somerhalder follows:]
Statement of Ian Somerhalder on H.R. 50,
The Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act
Good morning Chairman Fleming, Ranking Member Sablan, and Members
of the Subcommittee. I am Ian Somerhalder, an actor and founder of the
Ian Somerhalder Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to
empowering, educating, and collaborating with people to help them
positively impact the planet and its creatures. I am also a global
Ambassador for the Alliance for Global Conservation.
I appreciate this opportunity to testify before you today on H.R.
50, the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act. I
would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Subcommittee,
especially Chairman Fleming--who represents my home state of
Louisiana--for the invitation to join you today.
Wildlife and environmental conservation has always been not just a
passion, but a priority of mine. When I began to find that through my
work as an actor, I was gaining an increasingly prominent platform in
front of the American public, I knew right away what I wanted to do
with it. The IS Foundation is my attempt to use this opportunity, this
share of the public's attention, for the greater good.
The IS Foundation, which now has dozens of affiliate groups around
the world from as far off as India and Algeria, focuses its work around
3 themes: habitat conservation, species protection, and clean energy
initiatives. Our goal is to support a range of projects, from more
established, mature global initiatives like the Alliance for Global
Conservation, to smaller, grassroots efforts initiated by individuals
in the Gulf and other local communities. The hope is that we can
demonstrate ways for everyone to contribute, on any scale. We want to
start conversations on these issues and allow them to grow and evolve
naturally. When a particular issue gathers enough interest and
momentum, we'll lend the resources needed to transform it from a
conversation into a project, and hopefully, eventually, from a project
to real progress.
In talking to people, and especially young people, all over the
country, I have found time and time again that the issue of species
conservation is a particularly resonant one. People are passionately
attached to the creatures that have captured their attention and their
imaginations since childhood, and they are invested in doing whatever
is necessary to protect them. Species conservation is beyond a doubt an
issue that truly matters to the American public. We're lucky this is
the case, because many of our most beloved wildlife species are
clinging to survival by a thread.
This legislation initially enacted in 1990, is viewed globally a
success story. With the U.S. leading the effort, governments around the
world are able to begin investing in their ecosystems. From the Congo
to Southern Sudan we are finding that species conservation is paying
off in terms of both the environment and local government action.
As Congress considers H.R. 50, I thought it would be useful to
share my thoughts on the species that benefit from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service leadership on conservation.
Tigers: Wild tigers are one such example--an amazing species under
terrible threat by poachers and the gradual degradation of their
habitat and prey base. According to big cat experts, only around 3,000
tigers exist in the wild today, and experts estimate that more than 500
tigers are killed each year. To make matters worse, the actual breeding
population may be closer to a mere 1,000. Tigers are magnificent
creatures: big, powerful, and charismatic. Unfortunately, these same
qualities make them popular targets--the tiger's beautiful orange pelt
commands a high price on the global black market, as do tiger body
parts. Their organs and bones are used in Asian medicines, which are
sold to consumers who believe these animal products convey strength,
health and virility.
Rhinoceroses: Rhinos, too, hover on the brink of extinction.
Between 1970 and 1992, rhino populations declined by 96%, and fewer
than 2,400 black and white rhinos survived in the wild. Conservation
biologists tell me that today only 300 Sumatran rhinos remain. The low
number of survivors is exacerbated by the fact that many rhinos live in
small, fragmented populations, which may not be viable due to lack of
breeding opportunities and risk of random events or disease. Rhino
horns are carved for dagger handles as a coveted status symbol in the
Middle East, and body parts and bones are sold on the black market as
medicinal ingredients. The illegal trade in animal parts is a
profitable business, and the demand for these products creates an
ongoing temptation for poachers. Rhinos, and tigers too, also fall
inadvertent victim to poachers' snares, set to trap other animals for
bushmeat or trophies.
African Elephants: African elephants are another species in
terrible trouble. In the last century, rampant ivory poaching and
habitat loss caused their numbers to drop from over ten million animals
in 1900 to fewer than 500,000 by the late 1980s. Uncontrolled hunting
and continued loss of habitat still threaten the African elephant
today. In addition to the ivory and bushmeat trades, the loss of
natural elephant habitat poses a major problem due to the resulting
conflict between elephants and humans throughout Africa. As human
populations grow and expand into remote areas, natural habitat is
cleared and destroyed to make way for agriculture. Elephant populations
are compressed into smaller ranges with limited food and water
supplies. Hungry elephants wander into villages and damage crops.
People often kill elephants in an attempt to stop the crop raids, and
people themselves are also sometimes killed trying to fend off
desperate elephants.
Asian elephants: Like their relatives, Asian elephants are also
struggling to survive. In the United States, Asian elephants are best
known as familiar circus attractions. Yet throughout their homeland,
captive elephants are primarily beasts of burden. An estimated 16,000
Asian elephants are presently tamed and used for timber harvest,
clearing forests, and agricultural development. Ironically, it is the
destruction of forests, the advancement of agriculture, and the
encroachment of human civilization that pose the greatest threats to
the survival of Asia's wild elephants. Asian elephant populations have
continued to decline due to loss of grazing areas and poaching driven
by the ivory trade, and are listed as endangered on the Endangered
Species Act.
Marine Turtles: Six of the seven marine turtle species are listed
as threatened or endangered by the World Conservation Union and under
the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Because marine turtles require 10-40
years to reach sexual maturity and are vulnerable to predation, oil
spills, and as by-catch, restoring their numbers is a lengthy and
delicate task. Marine turtles are truly the ancient mariners of the
world's oceans, with ancestors dating back over 100 million years.
While all species require tropical, subtropical, or temperate oceanic
beaches for nesting, each has specific marine habitat and feeding
requirements. I was fortunate earlier this summer to travel to Trinidad
and Tobago and watch leatherback turtles emerge from the sea under
cover of darkness to lay their eggs and bury them in the sand. It was
even more gratifying to see the hatchlings dig their way out of their
sandy nest and instinctively find their way to the ocean. . .still
unfortunately facing an uncertain future.
Great Apes such as gorillas and chimpanzees: Apes, by their nature,
are extremely vulnerable. They have low population densities, grow
relatively slowly, are long-lived, and have low reproductive rates and
complex social relationships. Today, all the world's great ape species
are threatened with extinction. Apes are susceptible to many of the
same diseases as humans. As growing human populations penetrate further
into ape habitat, the potential for disease transmission between apes
and people, and vice versa, is increasing. As a result, the bushmeat
trade poses a serious health risk for humans. Threats facing gorillas
and chimpanzees include the loss, fragmentation and degradation of
their habitat, as well as hunting for food, medicine and sport. Even
with strong recovery programs, the chimpanzee population is 80% lower
than 50 years ago, and it continues to drop.
Looking around the world at these wildlife, it's abundantly clear
that humans have benefited from nature in so many ways but have also
brought many species to the brink of extinction. Scientists warn us
that we are on the cusp of the largest mass extinction spasm since the
dinosaurs. The American people that I interact with through my IS
Foundation work do not want to allow this to happen; they do not want
to let these species go without a fight; and they see the way in which
nature provides for people around the world. This is an issue that
Americans care deeply about, and it is critical that the United States,
as a world leader and global power, continue to lead the planet's
efforts in global species conservation. Due to instability or
indifference in the areas that many of these species call home, for
most of them we are the first, last, and only hope for survival. As the
ones with the power to make a difference, the responsibility rests with
us. It is imperative that we live up to it.
On behalf of the Ian Somerhalder Foundation and the Alliance for
Global Conservation, I urge the Subcommittee to mark-up H.R. 50 and
move to reauthorize this important piece of legislation.
______
Mr. Fleming. Thank you, Mr. Somerhalder.
Next up is Dr. Robinson. Sir, you now have five minutes.
STATEMENT OF JOHN G. ROBINSON, PH.D., EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,
CONSERVATION SCIENCE, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY
Dr. Robinson. I thank Chairman Fleming, Ranking Member
Sablan and Members of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to
testify on H.R. 50, H.R. 1760 and H.R. 1761, and I would like
to thank Representatives Miller, Pierluisi and Young for
introducing this legislation.
I am Dr. John Robinson, Chief Conservation Officer with the
Wildlife Conservation Society, a 115-year-old organization
which is based at the Bronx Zoo and has conservation efforts in
65 countries, many of which focus on tigers, elephants,
rhinoceros, great apes and sea turtles, species which are the
global priorities for the Multinational Species Conservation
Funds.
These funds have received bipartisan support, and they
address the threats responsible for species declines. Both
today and historically, Americans have supported efforts to
prevent the extinction of such charismatic and culturally
important species. WCS has worked closely with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service to implement conservation programs
supported by the Multinational Species Conservation Funds. Let
me highlight some of these.
Members have noted that there are only about 3,000 tigers
that live in the wild today, but of these only 1,000 are
breeding females. The international trade in tiger parts has
dramatically increased over the last five years, and the
conservation funds are critical for effective protection of
tiger populations at selected national parks and reserves.
With elephants we have seen hunting levels approaching the
pre-ivory ban levels over the last three years, especially in
Central and West Africa. This poaching is driven by increased
demand and price of ivory in Thailand, China and Japan.
Conservation funds are supporting programs to protect critical
elephant concentrations and control the illegal trade.
Great apes, as noted, remain at dangerously low population
numbers. The population of Cross River gorilla is down to less
than 300, and the mountain gorillas do not exceed 750 animals.
Remaining habitat needs to be protected, and bush meat hunting
of these great apes needs to be stopped.
Marine turtles spend their life at sea except when females
come to beaches for nesting. Numbers of nesting females of
green, hawksbill and leatherback turtles have relentlessly
declined over the last decades. Conservation programs are
focusing on managing the harvest at sea and protecting beaches.
In this tough fiscal climate, it is essential to preserve
inexpensive, efficient programs that provide tangible benefits.
Appropriated funds are highly leveraged, and this year
generated nearly $18 million in matching and in-kind
contributions from partners. Not only that, but the involvement
of the U.S. Government acts as a catalyst for national
governments around the world to invest in their own
conservation.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service runs a highly
competitive and rigorous grant process and maintains tiny
overheads, but in addition to these wildlife conservation
outcomes Multinational Species Conservation programs have
contributed to U.S. national security in countries like South
Sudan and the Republic of Congo by allowing alternate channels
of diplomacy through NGO's and technical experts, by promoting
the respective law and good governance in conflict prone
regions and by providing alternatives to violent insurgencies
through things like ranger training and employment.
In addition, programs to support an early warning system
for outbreaks of deadly pathogens have prevented the spread of
diseases such as the Ebola virus that threaten great apes and
human populations.
WCS strongly supports the reauthorization of these programs
and recommends that Congress recognize the parallel integrity
of these funds, the need to ensure continuity of strategic
investments and the efficiency of placing these programs on the
same authorization cycle and amend H.R. 50 to incorporate H.R.
1760 and 1761 under a single Reauthorization Act. We also
recommend that Congress maintain the existing authorization
levels, allowing the growth of this invaluable and fiscally
responsible program when the budgetary climate stabilizes.
With respect to H.R. 1761, we recommend that the scope of
the Marine Turtle Conservation Act be expanded to include
freshwater turtles and tortoises, which are harvested
extensively and are especially vulnerable to exploitation. Of
the 318 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises, 168 are on
the red list threatened with extinction.
I appreciate the opportunity to share my perspectives on
these important bills which will reaffirm the leadership of the
U.S. Government within the international community, underscore
our commitment to our international treaty obligations and
encourage coordinated international efforts to save some of the
world's most charismatic and valued species. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Robinson follows:]
Statement of John G. Robinson, Ph.D., Executive Vice President,
Conservation and Science, Wildlife Conservation Society
Introduction
On behalf of the Wildlife Conservation Society, I thank Chairman
Fleming and members of the Subcommittee for the invitation to testify
again before this Subcommittee. I am Dr. John G. Robinson, Executive
Vice President and Chief Conservation Officer with the Wildlife
Conservation Society, which was established by visionary
conservationists such as Teddy Roosevelt in 1895. With a mission to
conserve wildlife and wild places, the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife
Conservation Society (WCS) has over its 115-year history expanded
operations into 65 countries, and today we work in landcapes and
seascapes that contain nearly 25% of Earth's biodiversity across
Africa, Asia, and the Americas. We are able to do so with the dedicated
support of over 4,000 staff including 200 wildlife biologists,
landscape ecologists, and field veterinarians. We are a trusted global
organization that puts science into effective conservation action and
the only organization with a global network of field conservation
programs and partners, a wide range of curatorial, veterinary and
educational expertise, and a complex of urban zoos that maintain,
exhibit, breed, rescue and study a wide range of species.
I testify in support of the enactment of the following pieces of
legislation: H.R. 50, Multinational Species Conservation Funds
Reauthorization Act of 2011, H.R. 1760, Great Ape Conservation
Reauthorization Amendments Act of 2011, and H.R. 1761, Marine Turtle
Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2011. I will demonstrate the
continued investment of the U.S. government in global species
conservation during these tough fiscal times and explain the direct and
indirect benefits of such investment to U.S. interests. WCS would like
to thank Representatives Don Young, George Miller and Pedro Pierluisi
for introducing these pieces of legislation and Chairman Fleming and
the Members of the Subcommittee for recognizing the importance of the
programs to be reauthorized through H.R. 50, H.R. 1760, and H.R. 1761.
Primary Rationale for Continued Investment: Plight of Global Priority
Species
The Multinational Species Conservation Funds (MSCF) are targeted
investments in global priority species such as tigers, elephants,
rhinoceros, great apes and sea turtles. This program came about due to
strong bipartisan support to address the threats responsible for
species declines, which began with the enactment of the African
Elephant Conservation Act in 1988 to answer the illegal trade in ivory.
Each of the species supported through these funds are subject to
increased pressures from poaching, habitat destruction and other
environmental factors. The following paragraphs briefly highlight the
status of the species covered under the MSCF that WCS works to conserve
in the wild:
Tigers
Wild tigers (Panthera tigris) are threatened by poaching and the
gradual degradation of their habitat and prey base. Poaching for the
international trade to China including Tibet has resulted in decline
and local extinction of populations across the tiger's range, and
breeding populations in a number of countries, including Cambodia,
China, DPR Korea and Vietnam, are no longer self-sustaining. Even in
India, which contains half of all remaining tigers in the wild, a
number of reserves such as Panna and Sariska in Rajasthan have lost
their tigers. Tigers now occupy only 7% of their historical range. Only
around 3,000 tigers exist in the wild today, of which only 1,000 are
breeding females.
Elephants
Both African and Asian elephant species are protected by MSCF-
backed research and conservation programs. African elephants (genus
Loxodonta) continue to be threatened by poaching and habitat loss.
Between 1979 and 1989, the population was estimated to have halved from
1.2 million to between 500,000 and 700,000. The ban in trade in ivory
in 1989 halted the steep decline, but over the last three years we have
seen a dramatic increase in the proportion of illegally killed
elephants, especially in Central and West Africa. This increase is
correlated with high levels of poverty at a site level, and increased
demand and higher prices for ivory in international markets. West
African populations have shrunk to less than 10,000. Central African
populations are approximately under 100,000 elephants. For instance, in
Zakouma National Park in Chad, the last stronghold for the savanna
elephants (Loxodonta africana) of Central Africa's Sahel region, fewer
than 500 individuals remain, down from an estimated 3,000 in 2006. In
Asia, the number of wild elephants (Elephas maximus) has been estimated
at only about 50,000, but this is a crude guess. The predominant threat
to wild populations is the continued habitat loss and degradation.
Asian elephants only occupy 9 percent of their historical range, are on
the verge of being extirpated in Vietnam, and are already extirpated in
Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
Great Apes
Great apes face grave threats: hunting and illegal wildlife trade
to supply bushmeat and pets to urban markets; habitat destruction
through logging, mining, and agriculture from local slash-and-burn to
large-scale commercial plantations; and the spread of devastating
infectious diseases such as Ebola. The rarest of the four subspecies of
gorilla, the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), which is
found on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon, has a population of
less than 300 individuals. Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei
beringei), which total only about 720 individuals, are threatened by
encroachment into protected areas. As for chimpanzees (Pan
troglodytes), the population is 80 percent lower than 50 years ago,
even with strong recovery programs in place. Fewer than 7,000 Sumatran
orangutans (Pongo abelii) remain in the wild. Population decline is
primarily a consequence of the accelerating destruction of their native
forest habitat by loggers, small-scale farmers, and agribusiness.
Marine Turtles
Seven species of marine turtles currently navigate the oceans of
which six species are listed in threatened categories on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and
included in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES): green turtle
(Chelonia mydas), the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), the
loggerhead (Caretta caretta), the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata),
the Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), and the olive ridley
(Lepidochelys olivacea). All marine turtles require 10-40 years to
reach sexual maturity, nest on beaches, and are found from inshore
reefs to deep oceans, making them vulnerable to a wide range of threats
throughout their lives, including human and animal predation of their
eggs, hatchlings and adults, oil spills, climate change, and being
killed as bycatch. The IUCN global assessments for sea turtles,
conducted over the past decade, show a 48 to 67 percent decline in the
number of green turtle females nesting annually over the last three
generations, and an 84 to 87 percent decline for hawksbills over the
same time period. For leatherbacks, scientists in the 1990s estimated
over 70 percent in reduction of the global population of adult females
in less than one generation.
Every species and subspecies protected by the MSCF continues to
face significant threats, but this U.S. government investment provides
critical intervention to populations that still exist in the wild.
Targeted investment in conservation programs globally can produce
successes, as noted below. It would be improper to conclude that
conservation projects are ineffective merely because these species are
still at risk. Without support from programs such as the MSCF, these
animals could have already disappeared from our planet.
Why Invest in the Multinational Species Conservation Funds in this
Fiscal Climate?
Conservation is an American tradition respected the world over and
proudly supported at home. For example, a strong constituency for
conservation exists among the domestic outdoor recreation, fishing and
game industries, which annually contribute $730 billion to the U.S.
economy, and support 6.5 million jobs.
Although preservation of biodiversity and prevention of species
extinctions are the central benefits, conservation programs are
multifaceted investments that aid U.S. global policy priorities at
various levels:
Global conservation maintains the U.S. legacy and model of protecting
species:
The United States was the first country to make conservation of
nature a national goal and as a result, current generations benefit
from wild landscapes and charismatic species such as elk, pronghorn and
bison. On an international scale, our prominent conservation tradition
provides inspiration and guidance to other nations, which have followed
American values and strategies by establishing national parks or
refuges, designating wilderness areas, monitoring threatened species,
and limiting or preventing habitat degradation and destruction. U.S.
leadership in conservation enables us to uphold rigorous standards in
negotiating several international treaties and commitments impacting
species conservation, such as the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),which came about as
a result of U.S. leadership in 1973.
Wildlife conservation programs are a modest but essential piece of
the United States' engagement with the developing world. Through the
MSCF programs, the U.S. supplements the efforts of developing countries
that are struggling to balance the immediate economic needs of their
populations and the need to maintain ecosystem services and conserve
biodiversity. MSCF programs help to sustain wildlife populations,
address threats by controlling illegal poaching, reducing human-
wildlife conflict, and protecting essential habitat. By working with
local communities, they also improve people's livelihoods, contribute
to local and regional stability, and support U.S. security interests in
impoverished regions. As former Speaker Newt Gingrich noted in 1995 on
the House floor ``this is a very small amount of money, but it is
symbolically very important. . .. because of the signal it sends to
people, particularly in Africa and Asia, about whether or not the
United States is prepared to reach out and be helpful.''
Americans support the Multinational Species Conservation Funds:
No other developed nation makes a strategic investment in global
species conservation the way the U.S. government does through the MSCF
program. This program has always enjoyed strong bipartisan support in
Congress and is represented by a diverse coalition comprised of 32
national and international groups representing more than 20 million
Americans. WCS is proud to be an implementing partner of this program
and works with other institutions on the coalition such as the World
Wildlife Fund, Safari Club International, Association of Zoos and
Aquariums, Feld Entertainment, and others. This program has also
attracted partners including other developed countries such as the
Netherlands Germany, France, United Kingdom, and the European Union,
private corporations like Exxon-Mobil and Disney, and range state
governments. In the House of Representatives, MSCF enjoys strong
bipartisan support with champions like former Speaker Newt Gingrich,
Representatives Jim Saxton and Wayne Gilchrest and former chairs of the
House Natural Resources Committee -Representatives Don Young and George
Miller and former leaders of this Subcommittee -Representatives Henry
Brown and Madeleine Bordallo. Every original authorization and
reauthorization legislation for this program since 1989 has had strong
bipartisan support.
The Multinational Species Conservation Funds are a targeted U.S.
investment:
The MSCF are an efficient means of meeting the need for
international conservation of critical species. Given that the U.S.
dollar can be leveraged significantly in developing countries, modest
investments in MSCF have reaped unmatched benefits for species
conservation. In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
administers the program with great rigor and clearly articulated goals
and priorities with minimum overhead costs. In FY2010 alone, MSCF
supported only 57 percent of proposals received (216 of the 379 grant
proposals) indicating a substantial growing demand to support species
conservation as well as a highly competitive and rigorous application
process. Low administrative costs ensured that 97 percent of the funds
appropriated by Congress were distributed through grants. The MSCF are
particularly efficient because they provide a multiplying effect to
recipient organizations. For every dollar appropriated by Congress,
grant recipients leveraged an additional 1.6 dollars in FY2010,
together raising nearly $19 million in additional funding. Between
FY1990 and FY2005, Congress appropriated $37 million for MSCF, allowing
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make incremental increases in the
annual number of projects funded and partners added. During this time,
matching and in-kind contributions from partners generated more than
$100 million, supporting projects that could have otherwise been
neglected. Without the U.S. Congress's foresight and the U.S.
government's leadership, populations of some of the Earth's most
revered species would have been extirpated.
The Multinational Species Conservation Funds provide high value at low
cost:
There are few programs that can boast of a consistent track record
of providing direct conservation assistance to wildlife species as well
as the communities involved in saving them and protecting their
habitat. The MSCF program exemplifies this strong conservation and
fiscally responsible ethic. Foreign assistance costs approximately 1.3
percent of the federal budget, and MSCF comprises only .02 percent of
foreign assistance spending.
On June 21, 2011, the Department of the Interior (DOI) released a
report on its economic contributions detailing the financial impact of
DOI bureaus and programs to the nation's economy. The MSCF program,
specifically mentioned in the report, is noted as contributing to U.S.
jobs and economy in FY2010. With the $11.5 million appropriated by
Congress, the DOI has calculated the MSCF's economic impact at $22.6
million while supporting 207 U.S. jobs. The average grant under this
program often ranges between $25,000-$40,000 while the smallest grants
to recipients have been $5,000. This reflects the focus of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service in supporting on-the-ground conservation
projects that are fiscally responsible and have a strong conservation
impact, and that they have been poised to respond with rapid action
when called upon, for example providing surveillance support in
response to organized syndicates poaching for elephant ivory. Apart
from the inherent value of wildlife conservation and research, programs
funded through MSCF have furthered U.S. interests by supporting
American businesses. For example, specialized equipment deployed by
wildlife biologists in the field such as dart guns, veterinary devices,
mapping, graphics support, etc., is often produced by American
manufacturers across major manufacturing states such as Texas,
Wisconsin, Michigan and New Jersey.
MSCF help fight the spread of deadly infectious diseases:
As a result of global transport and trade, global health threats
can quickly spread from wildlife to human populations. Butchering and
eating wild animals (known as bushmeat), especially great apes and
other primates because of their genetic similarity to humans, is a
particular risk. Emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola are
widespread in tropical rainforests and are deadly to both humans and
great apes. There is currently no available treatment for those
infected with Ebola and the mortality rate can be as high as 90
percent. For the past decade WCS's Animal Health Monitoring Network,
funded in part by the Great Ape Conservation Fund, has encouraged rapid
reporting and response to wildlife mortalities and illnesses. This
network has provided critical information to researchers and public
health agencies including the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National
Institutes of Health, and serves as an early-warning system to possible
future outbreaks in human communities. Human cases of measles,
influenza, and tuberculosis--infectious diseases which are also
extremely dangerous to great apes--are common in communities living
near or in great ape habitat. Over the past seven years, WCS has
sustained a highly efficient wildlife health surveillance program in
the Republic of Congo which has resulted in over 40 great ape carcasses
recovered and tested. In 2005, an estimated 5,000 gorillas in northern
Congo disappeared, apparently as a result of an outbreak of Ebola,
making a strong case for monitoring wildlife and disease in tropical
forests to prevent transmission to humans.
MSCF contribute to national security by encouraging alternative
channels for diplomacy, respect for rule of law in conflict-
prone regions, and alternatives to joining militias:
Long-term investment by the U.S. government in species conservation
has several direct benefits. For instance, training of Russian and
Chinese personnel in Management Information System (MIST) law
enforcement techniques, stewards transboundary collaboration between
these governments and provides significant leverage to the U.S. in
negotiating broader issues of mutual interest. Additionally, successful
anti-poaching efforts inculcate respect for rule of law. MSCF funds
enabled Wildlife Crimes Units in Indonesia to continue to arrest scores
of illegal wildlife traders, and the arrest to prosecution ratio is
nearly 70 percent (as compared to the national average of 5 percent).
U.S. support for global conservation has allowed U.S.-based NGOs to
strengthen local governance structures and management capabilities of
park rangers, law enforcement units, indigenous governments and local
municipalities.
At the strategic level, conservation programs support the
establishment of good governance, with concomitant impacts on natural
resource management, social security, and economic sustainability. At
the tactical level, global conservation programs provide education and
jobs that help to stabilize war-torn regions and employ local citizens
who might otherwise be recruited by local militias. For example,
strengthening the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of
Congo provided jobs for hundreds of rangers during that nation's long
civil war. These rangers both protected mountain gorillas and their
habitat and helped control illegal logging and charcoal manufacturing
that provided revenues to the insurgencies.
MSCF support sustainable alternative livelihoods for local people in
impoverished regions:
Conservation programs provide livelihood opportunities to local
people. For instance, since 2004, with support from the Marine Turtle
Conservation Fund, WCS has trained 180 individuals from local
communities across Africa and Central America, resulting in both long
and short-term employment for local people as researchers. Sixty local
women have joined research projects in Gabon, Democratic Republic of
Congo and other sea turtle sites with support from this fund. WCS's
efforts on Ebola surveillance in the Republic of Congo alone has
supported 62 eco-guards, training for 20 researchers in carcass
sampling and 30 field team leaders in health and biological sampling
techniques; and educational programs on Ebola for over 915 hunters
across 71 villages. Besides providing these services, the Great Ape
Conservation Fund sustained and provided assistance to hire 4 field
assistants, part-time employment for 74 porters and 2 U.S.
veterinarians and biologists, 2 U.S. educators and 4 part-time
Congolese biologists.
Strong MSCF success stories contribute to U.S leadership, goodwill and
commitment to conservation:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a strong record in choosing
projects for funding which will have the strongest conservation
outcome. Since 2007, the MSCF has supported WCS operations in 12
African nations, helped in training 2,420 staff, generating nearly $7
million in matching funds for U.S. funds and sustaining 44 partner
organizations. In Asia, the MSCF has supported WCS operations in 10
countries, training over a thousand staff and sustaining 42 U.S.
wildlife biologists and field veterinarians while providing local
employment opportunities for 166 essential personnel such as eco-
guards, law enforcement personnel, porters, technical assistants. These
sustained partnerships have resulted in longstanding friendship and
cooperation between the U.S. and range state wildlife protection and
natural resource agencies.
WCS appreciates that the partnership with MSCF has allowed us to
achieve significant successes on the ground. These successes include:
In the world's newest democracy, South Sudan, WCS has
collaborated with the government and local stakeholders to
establish a foundation for natural-resource management, land-
use planning, and conservation to reduce conflict and catalyze
economic development. WCS surveys in 2007 with help from the
African Elephant Conservation Fund found 8,000 elephants and an
annual mammal migration that rivals in animal numbers those of
the Serengeti. Large tracts of savannas and wetlands have
survived decades of war and provide a real opportunity to
create a thriving tourism industry. The catalytic role of the
U.S. government in conservation has promoted the conditions for
a long-term success which hinges on the country's natural
endowment.
This year, the Republic of Congo is in the process of
creating Ntokou-Pikounda National Park, which will protect an
additonal 15,000 western lowland gorillas from habitat loss and
poaching. The establishment of this area derives from a grant
from the Great Ape Conservation Fund, which tallied in 2008
more than 125,000 western lowland gorillas in the larger
landscape of 18,000 square miles.
MSCF helped WCS conduct research and support
frameworks to create the Ulu Sebuyau National Park and the
Sedilu Orangutan Sanctuary for the protection of orangutans in
Malaysia.
Due to MSCF funds four Tiger Reserves in India were
made significantly larger. The MSCF supported the Indian
scientists who gathered the technical information on tigers,
elephants and other wildlife and who led the efforts to expand
Anshi-Dandeli Tiger Reserve, Bhadra Tiger Reserve, Nagarahole
Tiger Reserve and Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
MSCF funds supported the discovery of the world's
largest nesting site for leatherback sea turtles in Gabon on
the West Coast of Africa. Without MSCF, fewer than half of the
nesting beaches currently protected would be safe for
reproduction of this endangered species, and thousands of
turtles would perish each year.
Recommendations to the U.S. Congress
As demonstrated through this testimony, the MSCF conserves gravely
threatened elephants, tigers, rhinos, great apes and marine turtles and
further research and conservation is necessary to secure their
important roles in ecosystems. Functional ecosystems in turn are
critical to provide the services necessary for human well-being. To
this end, WCS requests the U.S. Congress to act swiftly to reauthorize
this program with the following considerations:
Maintain existing authorization levels: WCS understands the tough
choices that the Congress needs to make in light of policy and fiscal
priorities. WCS requests the Subcommittee closely consider the current
funding levels for the MSCF, which average roughly around 35-40 percent
of their existing authorization levels. Maintaining existing
authorization levels would allow the MSCF to grow in the future
enabling the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to award more grants and
specifically help in achieving conservation successes. Cuts to
authorization levels would not guarantee savings to the federal budget.
On the contrary, cuts would certainly limit the growth of this
invaluable and fiscally responsible program when our budgetary climate
stabilizes.
Enhance discretion of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service remains deeply committed to the conservation
of global species under the MSCF program. WCS requests the Subcommittee
to protect its administrative functions and costs while maintaining its
discretion to fund projects in high priority geographical locations.
Such discretion would not only continue to foster partnerships with
U.S. based NGOs and other entities but would amplify the reach of the
program in range states that are political, military and economic
allies of the United States.
Expand the scope of the Marine Turtle Conservation Fund (MTCF) to
freshwater turtles and tortoises and limit its jurisdiction to sea
turtles occurring in U.S. territories: Like marine turtles, tortoises
and freshwater turtles are long-lived species that mature late in life
and are especially vulnerable to exploitation. Today their respective
habitat is being increasingly fragmented, polluted or destroyed. Of
about 318 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises, 168 have thus
far been assessed as threatened with extinction and are listed on the
IUCN Red List. Of the estimated 90 species in Asia, more than 50
percent are considered to be either critically endangered or endangered
according to the IUCN. An overwhelming number of freshwater turtles and
tortoises are collected, traded in the illegal pet trade; and killed,
and consumed as food and in traditional medicine--this is happening at
an unsustainable rate. Some species of freshwater turtles and tortoises
are down to their last few individuals and stopgap measures, including
captive breeding, are underway to prevent their extinction. Together
with the China Zoo Society, Changsha and Suzhou Zoos, WCS is helping
with captive breeding techniques to save the Yangtze giant soft-shell,
(Rafetus swinhoei)--the last chance of survival for the world's largest
freshwater turtle. WCS endorses the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
desire to conserve freshwater turtles and tortoises and recommends that
H.R. 1761 expand eligible species accordingly while ensuring such
action does not diminish the modest level of funds allocated to marine
turtles.
An analysis of annual federal spending on sea turtles reveals that
the MTCF is extremely targeted in terms of investing where the greatest
needs exist. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cooperates with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to invest in sea
turtle conservation in the United States totaling over $25 million
annually compared to $1.4 million on threatened species globally.
Should H.R. 1761 expand the jurisdiction of this program, WCS
recommends that such expansion be limited to sea turtles occurring in
U.S. territories only.
Maintain Multinational Species Conservation Funds as an umbrella
program: While Congress has considered each species fund authorization
at different periods of time, collectively the MSCF program has gained
name recognition widely in Congress, within multiple Administrations
and among partners. The Congress has a rare opportunity to reauthorize
this program through H.R. 50, H.R 1760 and H.R. 1761 together under the
banner of the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization
Act. WCS requests that H.R. 50 be amended to incorporate H.R. 1760 and
H.R. 1761 to reflect this recommendation. This would not only ensure
continuity of strategic investments but would also place these programs
on the same reauthorization cycle.
In conclusion, congressional action on H.R. 50, H.R 1760 and H.R.
1761, will reaffirm the leadership of the U.S. Government within the
global community, underscore U.S. commitment to international treaty
obligations, and encourage coordinated efforts to save the world's
global priority species. WCS urges the Subcommittee and the Congress as
a whole to act quickly and positively on the reauthorization of these
critical pieces of legislation. Thank you again for the opportunity to
comment and to work with you on this issue.
______
Mr. Fleming. Thank you, Dr. Robinson.
Now, Dr. Stoinski, you are now recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF TARA S. STOINSKI, PH.D., ZOO ATLANTA
AND THE DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL
Dr. Stoinski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Subcommittee
Members, for the opportunity to testify in support of H.R.
1760, the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Amendments
Act.
I am Dr. Tara Stoinski, and I serve as the McGrath Chair of
Conservation and Science for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund,
which has as its mission conserving gorillas and their habitats
and helping the people that share the gorillas' forest home. I
also serve as the Manager of Conservation Partnerships for Zoo
Atlanta, which is an accredited member of the Association of
Zoos and Aquariums.
Mr. Chairman, the magnificent animals listed under the
Great Ape Conservation Act are still in great peril today. The
World Conservation Union categorizes all great apes as either
endangered or critically endangered, and their populations
across the world are rapidly declining from a multitude of
threats, which include habitat loss, hunting, disease, mining,
forest fires and civil conflict.
H.R. 1760 represents a congressional commitment to continue
to address the desperate plight of the great apes. The Great
Ape Conservation Act is a proven formula that promotes
cooperation among government entities, local communities, NGO's
and the private sector. It funds on-the-ground, rapid result
initiatives that can be seen and felt by local people.
This is essential because it is only through local action,
local education and local support that realistic solutions for
saving the great apes can be devised and implemented. We highly
recommend it be reauthorized at its current appropriation
levels of $5 million per year.
It is important to recognize that funds designated for ape
conservation protect many species beyond the apes, including
our own. Apes live almost exclusively in the tropical forests
of Asia and Africa. Tropical forests cover only 7 percent of
the world's surface, yet they contain an estimated 50 percent
of the world's biodiversity.
Africa's Congo Basin, which is home to all three species of
African great apes and represents 18 percent of the world's
remaining tropical rainforests, is estimated to contain over
10,000 species of plants, 1,000 species of birds and 400
species of mammals. For local human populations--and over 100
million people live in the Congo Basin alone--the forests are a
source of food, shelter, water and income. They serve as the
world's pharmacy. Roughly 25 percent of today's medicines
originated in the rainforest.
They perform critical ecosystem services. At the local
level they prevent soil erosion and regulate rainfall patterns.
Globally they act as the lungs of the planet, storing carbon
dioxide and releasing oxygen. By storing carbon dioxide, which
is a greenhouse gas, forests play a critical role in mitigating
global climate change. Roughly one-fifth of greenhouse gas
emissions are carbon dioxide released as a result of
deforestation. Thus, investment by the U.S. Government and
taxpayers in protecting apes and their rainforest homes is more
than good environmental stewardship. It is an investment in our
own future.
I would now like to highlight how the Great Ape
Conservation Act has helped the Fossey Fund in our mission of
saving gorillas and helping people. Our work conserving
gorillas began in Rwanda in 1967 when Dr. Dian Fossey founded
the Karisoke Research Center to study and protect one of the
two remaining populations of the magnificent mountain gorilla.
Karisoke has operated continuously over the last 44 years,
making it the world's longest running gorilla conservation
program, and the Great Ape Conservation Act has provided us
with critical funding to maintain this long-term daily
protection presence.
I am extremely happy to report that our work is paying off.
The mountain gorilla population has increased from a low of 250
individuals at Dr. Fossey's time to 480 individuals today. This
change of fortune for the mountain gorilla cannot be
overstated. It is the only known wild great ape population that
is increasing, and our scientific results clearly show that it
is the high level of investment in protection over four decades
that has enabled its remarkable recovery.
In the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Great Ape
Conservation Act funding has been instrumental in our work
developing a program for community conservation outside of
national parks in which local people manage their own natural
resources and protect the biological heritage. Using the
gorilla as a flagship species, nine community reserves have
been established which provide gorilla and overall forest
protection to an area roughly the size of Connecticut. This is
local people doing this work.
In both Rwanda and Eastern Congo, the Great Ape
Conservation Act has permitted the Fossey Fund to expand our
health and development activities for the local human
communities that share their environment with the gorillas. Our
activities focus on treating intestinal parasites in people
that live near protected areas, rehabilitating rural health
clinics, building capacity through training medical personnel
and increasing human access to clean water. We estimate that
over 400,000 people have benefitted from these programs.
Our experience at the Fossey Fund is clear. We have seen
that support from the American people to save great apes
inspires and motivates Africans. It brings the conservation
struggle to their doorstep and empowers them to do something
meaningful for their forest and their communities.
It directly links African and American hearts and minds in
a common goal; that together we can make room on our planet for
our children, for the great apes and gorillas and for the
majestic forests in which they live. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Stoinski follows:]
Statement of Tara Stoinski, Ph.D., Pat and Forest McGrath Chair of
Research and Conservation, The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International,
and Manager of Conservation Partnerships, Zoo Atlanta, on H.R. 1760,
The Reauthorization of the Great Ape Conservation Act of 2011
Thank you Mr. Chairman for the opportunity to testify this morning
on this very important piece of legislation, H.R. 1760--the
reauthorization of the Great Ape Conservation Act Act.
My name is Tara Stoinski, and I am the Pat and Forest McGrath Chair
of Research and Conservation at the The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. The
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has as its mission the conservation and
protection of gorillas and their habitats in Africa. We are committed
to promoting continued research on the gorillas and their threatened
ecosystems and to providing education about their relevance to the
world in which we live. In collaboration with government agencies and
other international partners, we also provide assistance to local
communities through education, health, training and development
initiatives. Our tag line is saving gorillas, helping people because we
feel that only integrated solutions to conservation that intimately
involve and engage the local human population will save gorillas and
other biodiversity.
I also serve as the Manager of Conservation Partnerships for Zoo
Atlanta, which is a member of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association
(AZA). I currently serve as the chair of the AZA's Ape Taxon Advisory
Group, which has oversight over all apes living in AZA institutions.
AZA represents over 210 professionally-managed and accredited
institutions which draw over 142 million visitors annually and have
more than 8 million zoo and aquarium members. Our institutions dedicate
millions of dollars annually to support scientific research,
conservation and education programs that focus on, among other things,
the devastating effects of the loss of vital species habitat and the
illegal trade in endangered species parts and products.
The Fossey Fund wishes to commend the foresight of this
Subcommittee and the Full Committee in the establishment and
maintenance of the Multinational Species Conservation Funds--which
include African elephants, Asian elephants, rhinos, tigers, marine
turtles and great apes. AZA also wishes to commend the US. Fish and
Wildlife Service for the exemplary manner in which they have
administered these funds. Unlike many government grants programs, this
funding effort has put real dollars into the field in real time, with a
minimum of bureaucratic delay or red-tape. In addition, the Service has
been able to leverage these scarce Federal dollars with over three
times that amount in matching and in-kind contributions.
HR. 1760, reauthorization of the Great Ape Conservation Act
Regarding the legislation before us today, I would first like to
thank Congressman George Miller for introducing this important bill and
for all of his efforts in support of fisheries and wildlife
conservation. I would also like to extend my sincerest appreciation to
you, Mr. Chairman, for your excellent leadership in this area as well.
Mr. Chairman, the magnificent animals featured in the Great Ape
Conservation Act of 2000 are still in great peril today. The IUCN
(World Conservation Union) Red List categorizes all great apes as
either Endangered or Critically Endangered, which means they face a
`very' or `extremely' high (respectively) risk of extinction in the
wild. Critically Endangered great apes include the Cross River gorilla
subspecies (numbered at only 250-280 individuals), the Mountain gorilla
(at 800 individuals), and the Sumatran orangutan (at 7334 individuals).
To graphically illustrate the urgency of this situation, here are the
most recent estimations concerning population estimates for gorillas,
chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and gibbons.
Gorilla: For the Western gorilla, including its two subspecies, the
total population numbers between 94,500 and 110,000. For the Eastern
gorilla, including its two subspecies, the total population is
estimated at less than 10,000.
Chimpanzee: The chimpanzee and the four subspecies comprising it
now collectively number between 100,000 and 200,000. Chimpanzees are
now extinct in 4 of the 25 countries they once inhabited.
Bonobo: The bonobo only occurs in one range state--the DR Congo.
Bonobo population numbers are estimated to be between 10,000 and 50,000
today.
Orangutan: The orangutan is comprised of two species, the Bornean
and Sumatran organgutan. The more numerous Bornean orangutans,
including three subspecies, number between 45,000 to 69,000. The
Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutan is estimated at only 6,500
individuals.
Gibbon: Twelve species of gibbons, small apes found across
Southeast Asia, are listed on the IUCN Red List. Two species, the
Hoolock gibbon and the Black gibbon, are classified as Endangered and
two species, the Javan gibbon and the Eastern Black Crested gibbon are
categorized as Critically Endangered. Current population numbers for
gibbons are still unknown.
The estimated population numbers I have listed are just that--
estimates. Most global population estimates are extrapolated from small
surveys because it is extremely difficult to obtain accurate population
numbers and monitor trends for forest-dwelling animals. In some areas,
civil conflict has prevented this important survey research. But one
thing is certain: ape populations across the world are declining--and
they are declining rapidly.
Threats:
Threats to the great apes are numerous. For the African species,
including gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos, diseases such as Ebola
hemorrhagic fever and the commercial bushmeat trade are, by far, the
most serious threats. Ebola is only one of at least 100 infectious
agents that are shared between humans and great apes. In 1994 and 1996,
in northeastern Gabon, western lowland gorillas and chimpanzees were
nearly wiped out during human Ebola outbreaks. In a recent epidemic in
northwestern Congo, Ebola is blamed for over 130 human deaths and over
600 great ape deaths--over half the great ape population for the
region.
Bushmeat is an economically important food and trade item for
thousands of poor rural and urban families in West and Central Africa
and other regions of the world. Virtually uncontrolled access to forest
wildlife, rising demand for bushmeat, lack of economic options for
rural communities, the absence of affordable protein substitutes, and
the opening up of frontier forests have resulted in a commercial level
trade in wildlife that is literally emptying the forests. We are facing
what is now popularly referred to as the ``Empty Forest Syndrome,''
where the trees may be left standing but the endemic wildlife is long
removed. And if the essential wildlife--the predators, the prey, the
seed spreaders, the natural fertilizers--are gone, the question of
ecological balance becomes paramount.
However, disease and the bushmeat crisis represent only two of the
many threats to the world's diminishing great ape populations. Habitat
loss and degradation are equally serious threats to the orangutans and
gibbons of Southeast Asia. Until its recent protection, Sebangau
National Park on the island of Borneo had been degraded by intensive
logging. The 1995 population level of 13,000 orangutans consequently
shrank to only 6,900 today, which is still one of the largest known
populations.
Added to these are the threats that plague great apes everywhere--
conversion of habitat to agricultural lands, the illegal pet trade,
mining, forest fires, and civil conflict. Exploitation of forests for
commercial logging and mineral prospecting mean that new access routes
are extended into ape habitat, leading to increased bushmeat hunting
and capture of animals for the illegal pet trade. Degradation of forest
habitat also results in small, unconnected patches that isolate ape
populations from each other and put them at an increased risk of
extinction from chance demographic factors. The capture of infant
chimpanzees, orangutans, and gibbons for the pet trade and
entertainment industry frequently involves killing the mother and other
adults. Orangutans sold as pets can yield more than $10,000 (U.S.
dollars), but it has been estimated that five animals die for every one
that is traded.
Underlying and exacerbating these threats is the fact that great
apes have very slow reproductive rates. Most apes do not reach sexual
maturity until between the ages of 8 and 15, and can only bear young
every 4 to 8 years. This means that ape populations simply cannot
recover from the devastating threats they face on a multitude of
fronts.
Mr Chairman, H.R. 1760 represents a Congressional commitment to
continue to address the desperate plight of the great apes. The Great
Ape Conservation Act is a proven formula designed to enhance programs
for the conservation of great apes by assisting efforts in many
worthwhile endeavors. Chief among these are: 1) to address the
conflicts between humans and great apes that arise from competition for
the same habitat; and 2) to promote cooperative projects among
government entities, affected local communities, non-governmental
organizations, or other persons in the private sector. These two
criteria are essential because it is only through local action, local
education, and local support that realistic solutions for saving the
great apes can be devised and implemented. If one looks at the projects
that have been funded to date under the Great Ape Conservation Fund, we
see that this mandate has been fully implemented. We highly recommend
that it be reauthorized at its current appropriation level of $5
million.
Programmatic Support of The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
The Great Ape Conservation Act has been critical in helping the
Fossey Fund achieve its goal of saving gorillas and helping people. In
the last six years, the Fossey Fund has received over 1.3 million
dollars in funding from the Great Ape Conservation Act. The Fossey
Fund's work began in Rwanda in 1967 when Dr. Dian Fossey founded the
famous Karisoke Research Center to study and protect the magnificent
mountain gorilla. Karisoke has operated continuously over the last 44
years--making it the world's longest running gorilla conservation
program--and the Great Ape Conservation Act has provided us with
critical funding to maintain this long-term, daily protection presence.
Our work is paying off--a census conducted in 2010 showed that the
mountain population has increased from a low of 250 individuals at Dr.
Fossey's time to 480 individuals. This change of fortune for the
mountain gorilla cannot be understated--it is the only known wild great
ape population in the world that is increasing, and our results clearly
show that it is the high level of investment in protection over four
decades that has enabled its remarkable recovery.
The Great Ape Conservation Act has also enhanced Karisoke's
education programs focused on building conservation and science
literacy and capacity in Rwanda. These programs include developing
conservation curriculum for primary and secondary students, forming
youth environmental clubs, supervising university students, and
educating local leaders about the benefits of wildlife conservation.
In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Great Ape Conservation Act
funding has been instrumental in developing a grass-roots program for
community conservation outside of national parks, in which local people
manage their own natural resources and are empowered to protect their
biological heritage. Using the gorilla as a flagship species, nine of
these community reserves have been established, which provide gorilla
and overall forest protection over a region of nearly 2.5 million
acres, an area roughly the size of Connecticut.
In both Rwanda and eastern DRC, the Great Ape Conservation Act has
permitted the Fossey Fund to expand our health and development
activities for the local communities that share their environment with
the gorillas. These activities focus on treating intestinal parasites
in humans living near protected areas; rehabilitating rural health
clinics; building capacity through training medical personnel; and
increasing access to clean water. We estimate that over 400,000 people
in Rwanda and eastern DRC have benefited from these programs.
It is important to recognize that funds designated for ape
conservation protect many species beyond the apes, including our own.
Apes live almost exclusively in the tropical forest of Asia and Africa.
Tropical forests cover only 7% of the world's surface yet they contain
an estimated 50% of the world's biodiversity. Africa's Congo basin,
which is home to all three species of African great apes and represents
18% of the world's remaining tropical forests, is estimated to contain
10,000 species of plants, 1,000 species of birds, 700 species of fish,
and 400 species of mammals. These complex ecosystems support not just
their own biodiversity but humans as well. For local human
populations--and over 100 million people live in the Congo Basin
alone--they are a source of food, shelter, water and income. These
forests also serve as the world's pharmacy--roughly 25% of today's
medicines originated in the rainforest. They perform critical ecosystem
services, both locally and globally. At the local level, they prevent
soil erosion and regulate rainfall patterns. Globally, they act as the
lungs of the planet, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. By
storing carbon dioxide--which is a greenhouse gas--forests play a
critical in mitigating global climate change. Roughly one fifth of
green house gas emissions are in the form carbon dioxide that is
released as a result of deforestation. Thus, investment by the U.S.
government and taxpayers in protecting apes and their tropical
rainforest homes is more than good environmental stewardship; it is an
investment in our own future.
Our experience at the Fossey Fund is clear. We have seen that
support from the American people for local action to save great apes
inspires and motivates Africans--it brings the conservation struggle to
their doorstep, focuses on an animal icon they themselves respect, and
empowers them to do something meaningful for their forests, for their
mountains, and for their communities. This grass-roots approach
directly links African and American hearts and minds in a common goal--
that we can make room on our planet for our children, for gorillas and
other great apes, and for the majestic forests in which they live.
The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund strongly supports H.R. 1760 and
encourages its swift passage out of the Committee and movement to the
House floor.
Thank you again for this opportunity to comment on this important
wildlife conservation measure.
______
Mr. Fleming. Thank you, Dr. Stoinski.
Now, Mr. Diez, you have five minutes, sir.
STATEMENT OF CARLOS E. DIEZ, NATIONAL COORDINATOR, SEA TURTLE
PROGRAM, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES,
GOVERNMENT OF PUERTO RICO
Mr. Diez. Good morning, Chair and Members of the
Subcommittee. My name is Carlos Diez, Sea Turtle Coordinator
for the Department of Natural Resources of Puerto Rico. I just
want to clarify that even though I have been working in the
Department of Natural Resources for 17 years, I have been doing
sea turtle work since I was 14 years old as a volunteer.
Anyway, I came here in support of the reauthorization bill
for the Marine Turtle Conservation Act with its amendments.
However, we also support the reauthorization of the two other
Acts under review today.
As many of you know, sea turtles have a very complicated
life cycle. It includes different phases and migrations as seen
in this diagram, the hatchlings swimming to the open ocean to
adult females nesting on sandy beaches. During all this
process, sea turtles inhabit or travel through many
geopolitical areas or countries.
As you can observe on these maps the trajectories of
different species of sea turtles starting at Puerto Rico and
how they migrate to other countries, they clearly indicate that
we are dealing with shared resources, and our conservation
efforts need to extend to other countries too. Therefore, the
reauthorization for the Marine Turtle Fund is vital to the
conservation of this species.
Through these funds, conservation projects in other
geopolitical areas such as the Dominican Republic, as an
example, can be at least partially sponsored to assure that
turtles that nest in Puerto Rico or any part of the U.S. are
being protected. Through the Marine Turtle Fund, many
initiatives have taken place, such as workshops, nest
protection. We already heard some of these programs sponsored
by this fund from our colleague here from Fish and Wildlife
Service.
In Puerto Rico, we get funding from Section 6 of the
Endangered Species Act from the Federal agencies of Fish and
Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service,
NMFS, which have been used for sea turtle conservation
projects. Similar to the Marine Turtle Fund, we have been able
to leverage almost the same amount of funding assigned.
Long-term projects like the hawksbill turtles at Mona
Island and research on the west coast of Puerto Rico have been
very successful. Nesting numbers increased almost 70 percent in
the last 20 years. However, there are still threats in other
areas that need our attention.
As you can see in these photos, all taken last year and
this year in Puerto Rico, threats such as human and urban
development, ocean, et cetera, continue to endanger this
species, in particular the hawksbill turtle, which is one of
the most critical endangered sea turtles.
Nowadays, Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act faces
major cuts to the point that NMFS didn't have any funding for
this coming fiscal year which, by the way, we got awarded but
couldn't get granted due to the lack of funding from this
agency. Therefore, any bill, law or other initiative to be able
to recover sea turtle populations abroad and at home as the
Marine Turtle Fund is urgently needed.
Sea turtles are important for the health of the oceans and
beaches. We already heard that with our friend here, Mr.
Somerhalder. It is the duty of the government to guarantee the
well being of the Federal citizens.
And even the U.S. citizens or taxpayers care about sea
turtle conservation. I see it every day. Just two nights ago
before I came here, residents and tourists from the States from
a nearby beach called me and asked me to assist them in helping
hatchlings get to the ocean. Residents from the States come
every year to Puerto Rico to swim with turtles, observe them
laying eggs and even participate in the conservation programs.
So please, I kindly ask you to support this bill as it is
submitted, which is not a lot of money, and really make this
work and of course this country a little better and a happier
place to be. Mucho gracias.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Diez follows:]
Statement of Carlos E. Diez, Puerto Rico's National Sea Turtle
Coordinator, Department of Natural and Environmental Resources of
Puerto Rico, on Re-authorization of the International Marine Turtle
Conservation Fund
My name is Carlos Diez and I am the National Coordinator for the
Sea Turtle Program of the Department of Natural and Environmental
Resources of Puerto Rico and also a biologist at the Endangered Species
Program. In addition, I am a member of the IUCN Marine Turtle
Specialist Group and National Coordinator of the Wider Caribbean Sea
Turtle Conservation Network. However, today, I am here on behalf of the
government of Puerto Rico and in support of the re-authorization bill
for the International Sea Turtle Conservation Fund, submitted by our
Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi and co-authors.
As many of you already know, all species of sea turtles are
threatened or endangered due to direct and indirect impacts of human
intervention. For example, in Puerto Rico, and in many other places of
the Caribbean, sea turtles are hunted for their meat, eggs and
carapace. In other areas, sea turtles can be incidental victims of
long-line fisheries or are severely affected by oil spills. Other
sources of pollution, such as discarded plastics also cause significant
sea turtle mortality. Even though these animals can produce many eggs
and potentially many hatchlings, they have to contend with natural
threats as well, such as predators and the effects of severe weather
that can harm the beaches where the eggs are laid. In sea turtles, age
of sexual maturity tends to be quite high (at least 16 years), so
that's why its takes so long for a population to recover from depressed
levels. However, sea turtle populations can recover, and a good example
in Puerto Rico's case, at Mona Island, we have the biggest hawksbill
turtle nesting rookery in the U.S. jurisdiction and the second largest
in the insular Caribbean. When we started counting nests numbers in
1989 our data indicated about 250 nests per season. Last year, we
counted 1400 nests. The reason for this success were several factors,
1) an international commercial ban on hawksbill products, especially to
Japan, which used to import approximately 5000 hawksbill turtles per
year from the Caribbean; 2) control of domestic poaching by federal and
state law enforcement; 3) and finally Mona Island's conservation status
as natural reserve, where development is prohibited and sea turtle
predators such as feral pigs have been controlled.
All these efforts were conducted in great amount thanks to the U.S.
Federal government, in particular Fish and Wildlife Service and
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The funding provided by these
two agencies allowed us to not only protect these species, but also to
understand basic information such as age to sexual maturity, population
genetic and migration. The last one is quite important, since it give
us the data of where these turtles were going after nesting or from
where this turtles came from in our feeding grounds (typically reefs or
sea grass beds). It was from saturation tagging, satellite tracking and
molecular studies that we learned hawksbill turtles and sea turtles in
general are shared resources, or a mixed stock in scientific terms. Our
hawksbills turtles regularly migrate to countries such as Nicaragua,
Dominican Republic, Colombia, and potentially elsewhere in the
Caribbean. Green turtles tagged in PR have been found traveling as far
as Brazil and leatherbacks cross the Atlantic up to the coast of Wales,
or to Canada, by way of New England. Conducting surveys in PR, we've
also re-captured animals from other countries such as U.S. Virgin
Islands, Bonaire and the Dominican Republic. It is clear that these
turtles are internationally shared resources.
Therefore, if we don't protect sea turtles in other geo-political
jurisdiction all our efforts at home are in vain. The International
Marine Turtle Conservation Fund provides the mechanism to support such
projects, such as the effort in the Dominican Republic, which needs
funding to protect its beaches from turtle poachers; or in Nicaragua to
make fisherman understand that the turtles they catch are not only
theirs. By supporting projects like these, sea turtles are hugely
benefited in the USA. The USA is a noble country, and most of its
citizens enjoy helping these types of initiatives where the benefits to
conservation are clear.
The International Marine Turtle Conservation Fund is a method to
provide other countries financial assistance in protecting our turtles.
However, we (PR) as many states and other territories are in financial
difficulties and many of our conservation programs are as well.
Therefore, we support the amendment for including up to 20% for the
territories to compete for funding in this bill. We have provided an
example of a success story with the hawksbill turtles at Mona Island,
but in PR, we have two more species, plus more nesting areas for
hawksbill turtles that are in jeopardy. In mainland PR, we used to have
nesting of hawksbills turtles all over, and now it is limited to very
few areas and every year these beaches are being affected by tourist
development, or other human related activities and of course poachers.
Even though we have received federal funding, it always has been
limited, due to our small area. However, we have 3 species of sea
turtles and particularly the hawksbill which is one of the most
endangered animals on Earth. Last year, even though we were awarded a
grant in the Section 6 Program from NMFS, the program didn't have
funding assigned by Congress and therefore, the grant could not be
awarded. If we try to get funding from other sources, such as European
Funds, ect. . ., we are rejected since many of these programs don't
include USA due to our ``funding opportunities, such as Section 6''.
Again, these days, those ``other funding sources'' have no funds or
limited money to support any project. The actual status of the federal
government, where NMFS's Section 6 (Protected Species Program) is
without funding, it is just an example to make us support any law or
effort that could provide funding for U.S. territories to protect sea
turtles.
Finally, we, the Dept. of Natural and Environmental Resources of PR
reiterate our support for the re-authorization bill with the amendment
to include at least 20% of the funds for U.S. territories on behalf of
the sea turtles of USA.
Gracias!
______
Mr. Fleming. Thank you, Mr. Diez.
Mr. Hosmer, you are next, sir.
STATEMENT OF JOSEPH HOSMER, PRESIDENT,
SAFARI CLUB INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION
Mr. Hosmer. Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman, Committee,
esteemed colleagues, good morning. My name is Joe Hosmer, and I
am very thankful for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the
hunter conservation community today. I currently serve as the
President of Safari Club International Foundation, SCIF. I am a
life-long hunter. It has been a family tradition for millions
of years.
We are a charitable organization that funds and manages
programs dedicated to wildlife conservation, outdoor education
and the humanitarian services. SCIF has worked tirelessly to
increase wildlife management capability throughout Southern,
Central and Eastern Africa through strategic partnerships
directly with African nations and conservation NGO's.
Safari Club International Foundation believes that the
United States plays a pivotal role in international
conservation. The United States' continued support for
international conservation projects is necessary both for
continued growth of wildlife populations and for the stability
of rural economies throughout many nations of Africa. For these
reasons, we strongly support H.R. 50, the Multinational Species
Conservation Fund Reauthorization Act of 2011.
As an organization, we are highly committed to wildlife
conservation throughout the world, but we have a particular
affection and interest for African species. I would like to
offer the hunting community's perspective on the importance of
international conservation funding. There is a tremendous
return on your investment that rural economies realize through
effective, sustainable use wildlife practices. Our Conservation
Committee alone dedicates over $1 million annually to global
wildlife conservation with a specific focus on conserving
African species.
We are the leader in Africa, and as such we have led the
development of the African Wildlife Consultive Forum, which
brings together African wildlife officials, representatives of
the African professional hunter associations, CITES,
international NGO's and of course the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service's staff. At these meetings we have increased
collaboration for sustainable use conservation programs and
have improved relations, which increase rural economic
development around sustainable use hunting.
Our speakers today have touched on the incredible impact
that conservation funds have made for wildlife populations. I
would like to speak specifically about the impact on rural
economies and the conservation of these species.
The role of sport hunting today in many developing
countries is vital to the very survival of these communities.
Using Southern Africa as a simple example, sport hunting has
been one of the main economic engines in the rural communities.
In many countries in Southern Africa, the land is just not
suitable for agricultural use or grazing. In these areas,
regulated hunting has been historic for the revenue of these
local communities.
To take better advantage of sustainable wildlife use, many
governments have begun community-based natural resource
programs. These programs in essence devolve the power of the
central government so that locally created community councils
can regulate and manage wildlife in their own areas. The
mission is to utilize wildlife so that it remains a sustainable
resource within their community.
These community programs have been successful because they
effectively create a financial incentive for the rural
communities to actively conserve wildlife. Revenue retention
schemes ensure that money generated from sport hunting ends up
directly in the hands of the indigenous population.
Particularly in Africa, creating an incentive to co-exist
with wildlife has been a central reason why many populations of
species are now thriving. The growing population of white rhino
has been one of the most notable success stories as pointed out
earlier today by a committee member.
Unsurprisingly, in the countries like Kenya where wildlife
utilization by indigenous people is extremely limited and where
hunting does not exist, wildlife population levels are now low
and in continuous decline. Trophy hunting in Kenya was banned
in 1977, and this ban has resulted directly in an accelerated
loss of wildlife due to the removal of incentives for
conservation.
As an organization, SCIF has not directly used the funds
available through authorization. However, organizations that we
partner with in providing matching grants have been recipients
of funds from the Fish and Wildlife Service. The investments
that the U.S. Government has made through the Multinational
Species Conservation Funds are necessary. They both provide
stability for ongoing wildlife conservation investments from
other organizations such as us and from hunters who travel.
H.R. 50 certainly provides significant and measurable
success. Mr. Chairman, that is the answer to your question. It
provides significant and measurable successes for a very small
investment in our Federal dollars. I appreciate your time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hosmer follows:]
Statement of Joseph Hosmer, President, Safari Club International
Foundation, on H.R. 50, Multinational Species Conservation Funds
Reauthorization Act of 2011
Good morning, my name is Joe Hosmer, and I am very thankful for the
opportunity to speak on behalf of the hunter-conservation community
today.
The Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) is a 501(c)(3)
charitable organization that funds and manages programs dedicated to
wildlife conservation, outdoor education, and humanitarian services.
Since 2000, SCIF has provided in excess of $50 million in support to
these causes around the world. SCIF has worked tirelessly to increase
wildlife management capability throughout Southern and Eastern Africa
through strategic partnerships with African nations and conservation
NGOs.
Currently, SCIF participates on the steering committee of the
Multinational Species Conservation Fund Coalition and SCIF has
participated as a member of the Multinational Species Coalition for
well over 10 years. In our current role on the coalition, we assist in
providing grassroots support for the species conservation funds.
Safari Club International Foundation believes that the United
States plays a pivotal role in international conservation. We further
believe that the United States' continued support for international
conservation projects is necessary, both for the continued growth of
wildlife populations, and for the stability of rural economies
throughout many nations of Africa. For these reasons the Safari Club
International Foundation strongly supports H.R. 50, the Multinational
Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act of 2011.
As an organization, SCIF is highly committed to wildlife
conservation throughout the world, but we have a particular affection
and interest for African wildlife species. I would like to offer the
hunting community's perspective on the importance of investing in
conservation funding internationally. There is a tremendous return on
investment that rural economies realize through effective sustainable
use practices for wildlife management.
SCIF's Conservation Committee dedicates over a million dollars
annually to global wildlife conservation, with a specific focus on
conserving African species. SCIF's leadership in Africa has led to the
development of the African Wildlife Consultative Forum, which brings
together African wildlife officials, representatives of the African
professional hunter associations, international NGO's and the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Services staff. At these meetings we have increased
collaboration for sustainable use conservation programs, and we have
improved relations to increase rural economic development around
sustainable hunting.
Other speakers today will touch on the incredible impact that the
conservation funds have made for wildlife populations. I would like to
speak specifically about the impact on rural economies that sustainable
use and conservation of these species can have.
The role of sport hunting today in many developing countries is
vital to the very survival of communities. Using southern Africa as an
example, sport hunting has been one of the main economic engines in
rural communities. In many countries of southern Africa, agrarian or
pastoral economies cannot flourish, due to limited land suitable for
agriculture or grazing. In these areas, regulated sport hunting has
been a consistent form of revenue for local communities. To take better
advantage of sustainable wildlife use, many governments have begun
Community Based Natural Resources Programs. These programs, in essence,
devolve power from the central government so that locally created
community councils can regulate and manage wildlife in their areas.
Their mission is to utilize wildlife so that it remains a sustainable
resource for their community.
Successful community based programs have been developed across
Africa including, but not limited to, Communal Areas Management Program
for Indigenous Resources, otherwise known as CAMPFIRE, in Zimbabwe;
Living In a Finite Environment, known as LIFE in Namibia; and other
programs in Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania. rural communities to
actively conserve wildlife. Revenue retention schemes ensure that money
generated from sport hunting ends up in the hands of indigenous people.
In the case of sport hunting in southern Africa, communities in the
most rural portions of countries reap the benefit of conserving
wildlife through Community Based Natural Resource Programs.
Here are some facts and figures on the positive economic impact
that sport hunting has in Africa.
1. International hunting by 18,500 hunters generates $200
million USD annually in remote rural areas of Africa in 23
countries. Private hunting operations conserve wildlife on
540,000 square miles, which is 22% more land mass than is found
in all the national parks of Africa. (Lindsey, Conservation
Biology, 2007)
2. ``Hunting is of key importance to conservation in Africa by
creating [financial] incentives to promote and retain wildlife
as a land use over vast areas. . .'' (National Geographic News,
March, 2007)
3. In Namibia, 29 conservancies involve almost 150,000 rural
individuals through trophy hunting, conservancy management or
secondary industries. (Weaver, C.L. & Skyer, P. 2003.)
4. The Zambian Wildlife Authority works with safari operators
to ensure that as part of their contract they must develop and
manage roads, employ Zambian Professional Hunters or Apprentice
Hunters, ensure that a minimum of 80% of labor comes from
neighboring communities, develop local infrastructure, notably
schools, clinic and wells, and employ Zambian game scouts to
manage wildlife and poaching. (Kampamba, G. 2005.)
5. International hunting employs approximately 3,700 people
annually in Tanzania. (www.tanzania.go.tz/) and supports over
88,000 families (Hurt & Ravn 2000)
Particularly in Africa, creating an incentive to coexist with
wildlife has been a central reason why so many populations of species
are now thriving. Elephants, rhinos and lions are the best examples of
this dynamic at work. Of the 23 southern African nations that have
regulated hunting, an overall trend of positive species population
growth has been reported. The growing population of white rhino has
been one of the most notable success stories. Unsurprisingly, in
countries like Kenya, where wildlife utilization by indigenous people
is extremely limited and where hunting does not exist, wildlife
population levels are now low and in continuous decline. Trophy hunting
in Kenya was banned in 1977 and this ban has resulted in an accelerated
loss of wildlife due to the removal of incentives for conservation
(Baker 1997; Lewis & Jackson 2005).
As an organization, SCIF has not directly utilized the funds made
available through the authorizing legislation. However, organizations
that SCIF has partnered with in providing matching grants have been
recipients of funding from the FWS.
The investments that the U.S. government has made through the
multination species conservation funds are necessary. They provide
stability and continuity for ongoing wildlife conservation investments
from other organizations, and from the hunters who travel to Africa.
The MSCF certainly provides significant and measurable successes for a
very small investment of federal dollars.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak before the subcommittee
today.
______
Mr. Fleming. Thank you, Mr. Hosmer.
At this point, we will begin Member questions of witnesses.
To allow all Members to participate and to ensure we can hear
from all of our witnesses today, Members are limited to five
minutes for their questions. However, if Members have
additional questions we can have more than one round of
questioning and usually do. I now recognize myself for five
minutes.
Mr. Hosmer, I greatly admire the work of the Safari Club,
also Ducks Unlimited. I love the concept of the buy-in, sort of
a Teddy Roosevelt conservation that is to say. Hunters have
really the largest stake in conservation than anyone. Fishermen
as well. And so I love the concept and I love the fact that
private matching money far exceeds Federal money. I think that
is definitely the right thing.
However, this country is broke. Now we borrow 40 cents of
every dollar that we spend. So the question is to you, sir, and
really to everyone in this country. How can we afford to
continue funding these programs, considering our dire financial
situation?
Mr. Hosmer. One of the benefits of the Multinational
Species Conservation Fund is that they specifically work to
solicit matching grants from NGO's and other donors, and that
is a key element to this.
The relatively small investment by the U.S. taxpayer is
multiplied by the private donations that make significant
impact for rural economies in some of the most impoverished
parts of the world. You don't have this advantage in a lot of
opportunity. You know, what you are doing is great and it
echoes around the world.
Mr. Fleming. Do you see a time when we can do this
completely, 100 percent privately in terms of funding?
Mr. Hosmer. I think the seed money gives it a credibility.
I think it gives it an important credibility that helps to
leverage.
From the business world, if you get a big corporate sponsor
then you can usually pick up a number of small ones, and this
is no different. The U.S. Governments gives it great status.
Mr. Fleming. All right. Sure. Thank you.
Ms. Saito, for Fiscal Year 2012 the Obama Administration
requested $9.7 million for the five Multinational Species
Conservation Funds managed by your International Affairs
Office. What was the justification for this funding level?
Ms. Saito. Mr. Chairman, the budget is usually developed
taking into consideration the Service's, the Department's, and
the President's priorities.
And while the Multinational Species Conservation Program is
meritorious, it is considered among all other priorities and
program needs of the larger organization and so what Congress
is able to appropriate for these funds, we try to make the most
effective use of them.
Mr. Fleming. OK. All right. Thank you.
Dr. Stoinski, what is the current conservation status of
the five species of great apes that are eligible to receive
funding under the Great Ape Conservation Fund?
Dr. Stoinski. They are all considered endangered, which
means that they are considered to have a very high risk of
extinction in the near future or critically endangered, which
means that the risk is even more great.
Western gorillas are labeled as critically endangered,
Eastern gorillas as endangered. Sumatran orangutan are
critically endangered. Bornean orangutans are endangered,
Chimpanzees are endangered and bonobos are endangered.
I21Mr. Fleming. OK. Again, a similar question. The Obama
Administration requested $1.9 million for the Great Ape
Conservation Fund in Fiscal Year 2012. Break down how you would
spend these funds.
Dr. Stoinski. I think from our experience and what we have
seen in Africa, a critical element is having boots on the
ground, is employing local Africans, local people to provide
the protection that these animals need.
Most of these countries do not have enough funds to
adequately outfit their national parks with rangers that go and
do the antipoaching patrols, that guard these areas from the
poachers that we have heard about. And so I think a significant
portion of that funding goes to provide those boots on the
ground, and at the same time it is a significant source of
employment for people in these rural areas, which often suffer
from very high levels of unemployment.
Mr. Fleming. OK. Thank you. All right. My time is about up,
so I will yield to the gentleman, the Ranking Member.
Mr. Sablan. Thank you very much, Chairman Fleming.
Ms. Saito, Chairman Fleming just asked you how the
Administration justifies the funding request for the
Multinational Species Conservation Fund. Let me ask you the
other side of the question.
How do these cuts, because there will be cuts in the money,
a 19 percent cut. How would the cuts impact wildlife
conservation on the ground in terms of the number of wildlife
populations, species, range states and projects supported?
Ms. Saito. Congressman, thank you for that question. The
way that we manage the funds is that we identify priorities for
the various species because we are aware of the needs, and many
countries will submit proposals. We don't know in advance how
many proposals we are going to get from any one country, so it
is difficult to respond to what this would do to the range
countries.
In terms of the funding cuts, we would be able to fund only
a fewer number of projects. We try to focus on the projects
that have the highest priorities of the species needs, and also
we will consider whether or not there are matching funds to
maximize dollars that we have.
Mr. Sablan. All right. Thank you. Let me go to Mr.
Somerhalder. Ian.
Mr. Somerhalder. That is easier.
Mr. Sablan. What do you hear from Americans about why the
international wildlife conservation is important to them?
Mr. Somerhalder. What I hear, and typically this is coming
from a younger generation, a very important one, is that
species conservation is without a doubt extremely important by
virtue of several things. One of them is what I learned in
Trinidad and Tobago is these turtles are worth more alive than
they are dead. People pay to go see these turtles.
It props up local economies, provides protection for the
species, brings people out of the Stone Age effectively--no
offense--by building hospitals and schools. There is a direct
economic impact for the loss of these species, and it is, from
what I gather from whom I speak to often and many, that it is
invariably important to them. What is it going to cost us down
the road? Well, it is going to be exponentially more.
Mr. Sablan. Thank you. Mr. Robinson, if I may, sir? Can you
tell us? Can you provide us with an example of how the
Multinational Species Conservation Funds contribute to our
national security by maybe stabilizing war-torn areas and
providing jobs for people who might otherwise be hostile to the
United States?
Dr. Robinson. Thank you. Thank you for that question. Let
me just give an example from South Sudan. The Multinational
Species Conservation Funds supported a survey of elephant
populations in South Sudan in 2004. One of the consequences of
that survey was a discovery of the largest mammal migration in
Africa, a migration which probably was larger than the
Serengeti migration.
That justified the Government of South Sudan, a newly
independent nation, of allocating and putting as a high
priority the protection of those wildlife resources. At the
same time, it was sitting with tens of thousands of people
under arms following a 20 year war.
The U.S., of course, has got strong strategic interests in
South Sudan and in their independence. This survey and the
recognition of the conservation value of this migration was
critically important in taking a significant number of those
people under arms and moving them through ranger training.
So we have taken a strong presence and reallocated their
effort into conservation and into much better governance and a
much more stable rural countryside, and I think that is very
much in our U.S. strategic interest.
Mr. Sablan. My time has come, Mr. Chairman, but I would
like to say that growing up I once told my daughter actually
that we are related to the apes, and she asked me which side of
the family, mine or her mother's? So the mother said no, it is
your dad's family, but thank you.
Mr. Fleming. I thank the gentleman. I won't weigh in on
that. We have had similar discussions in my family. Thank you.
Let us see. Next up is Mr. Faleomavaega, the gentleman from
Samoa.
Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to
commend the members of the panel for their most eloquent
statements this morning.
I have been listening very closely in terms of the
testimonies, and, first of all, I definitely want to commend
Mr. Ian Somerhalder for the tremendous job that you are doing
not only with your foundation, but with your commitment in
conservation.
Mr. Somerhalder. Thank you very much.
Mr. Faleomavaega. It was last year that another one of your
colleagues, Mr. Pierce Brosnan, was also here and wanted to
save the whales. I think you should do more to encourage more
of your colleagues in the acting industry to be involved.
Mr. Somerhalder. I shall.
Mr. Faleomavaega. I have always said the good Lord must
have some reason for having these animals to be with us on this
planet. It is certainly not to kill them. I have a very real,
soft spot in my heart making sure that we do these things.
I do want to commend you, Mr. Chairman. You have been very
gracious. I thought that maybe you would have at least one or
two witnesses that would seriously question the budgetary
allocations in terms of why we should be spending money for
these kinds of projects and saving animals, but you have been
very gracious. I was looking forward to maybe one of the
witnesses would come out slashing and cutting and saying that
we don't need the money to do this kind of activity.
I would like to ask Ms. Saito, and again I am not a
mathematician, Ms. Saito, but for every dollar that we spend
for the conservation efforts that these three pieces of
legislation provide, what does it do positively for the world
community as far as these animals? Why should we save these
animals?
Ms. Saito. Thank you, Mr. Congressman, for that question. I
think we have good reasons for wanting to save these animals.
One of the things that Congressman Miller mentioned was that
these funds really help the recipients help manage their own
resources, which we think is really important.
A lot of the recipients of these awards, some of them are
willing to risk their lives, put their lives on the line in
order to protect these species. In Virunga National Park--that
is one of Africa's oldest parks--160 rangers have lost their
lives protecting the wildlife in that park.
Their only concern is that they have to leave their wives
and their families without any support. They don't get any
support from their government, so they are concerned about
that, but yet they carry on because they really believe that
protecting these animals is so important.
Mr. Faleomavaega. And I know again from the side of
understanding and trying to appreciate this in terms of what
kind of commitment these countries have themselves, I
appreciate the fact that some of these people at the risk of
their lives would do these kinds of things to preserve or to
save these animals.
And realizing too the economics of some of these countries
are so poor. They just don't have the resources to do the kind
of things that we are able to do. That also raises a question
of problems as to why should we be doing this? Why don't these
countries themselves be committed, as committed as we are? We
don't have elephants here in America. We don't have gorillas
here in America.
Why should we be committed in doing the very thing that
other countries don't seem to be at all concerned? Or maybe
they are concerned, but I think it comes down to the point
where they just don't have the resources to do the work. Am I
wrong on this?
Ms. Saito. That is correct. Many countries do not have the
skills to manage their own wildlife, and I think the
Multinational Species Conservation Funds really puts an
emphasis on capacity building in those areas, helping these
countries gain the skills they need.
Mr. Faleomavaega. I am sorry, Ms. Saito. My time is going
to get a little close.
Ms. Saito. OK.
Mr. Faleomavaega. I just want to say thank you, and I want
to commend Mr. Diez. I know something about turtles because I
am from the islands myself. It is the most beautiful experience
of being with these beautiful animals.
The bottom line, Mr. Chairman and to our distinguished
witnesses, is we have a moral obligation to save and to do
everything that we can to conserve and to preserve these
beautiful animals, and I yield back.
Mr. Fleming. I thank the gentleman. Next is the gentlelady
from Guam.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I will
begin my questions, but before I do I would like to state my
strong support for the three bills before the Committee today,
the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization,
the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization and the Marine
Turtle Conservation Reauthorization Act.
I have always been a strong advocate for wildlife
preservation here in the United States and around the world,
and the passage of these bills will ensure the United States
continue to exert the leadership on multinational conservation
issues.
I want to thank both you, Mr. Chairman, and of course our
Ranking Member, Mr. Sablan, for calling this important hearing
today, and I also want to thank our distinguished witnesses for
your testimony in support of these matters.
My first question is to Ms. Saito. Does the Department
support the approach of permitting grants for marine turtle
conservation projects in the U.S. territories? It seems to me
to mean increased competitiveness for the grants, maximizing
the return on the dollar for the program and allows for
appropriate cooperation in protecting these migratory species.
So does the Department see it this way?
Ms. Saito. Congresswoman, thank you for that question. In
our testimony, written testimony, we did address that; that the
Department would support having 20 percent of the funds go for
freshwater turtles, but we would like to see that being used
worldwide, not just for U.S. freshwater turtles.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you. That is on the record. All right.
My second question or my third is to Mr. Diez. One reason
we propose expanding the scope of the Marine Turtle
Conservation Program to include the United States and the
territories is the mere fact that turtles nest on the
shorelines of all the U.S. territories, as well as the coastal
states and the Gulf of Mexico from South Padre Island in Texas
to the Florida Keys, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and
of course Guam and all of the other territories.
We join 27 different nation states geographically in the
Caribbean Sea, and this fact emphasizes the importance of
international cooperation in species conservation. Sea turtles
are highly migratory, and partnerships between the governments
of the Caribbean Islands are crucial for across-the-board
efforts.
Puerto Rico positions the U.S. to be a leader in the
Caribbean. Can you enlighten the Subcommittee, Mr. Diez, on the
partnerships that the Puerto Rico Government has formed with
neighboring islands and countries? This happens to be a
question that Mr. Pierluisi asked me to ask.
Mr. Diez. Thank you. Definitely. Puerto Rico, as you
mentioned, we are kind of one of the Greater Antilles so we
share this resource with the other islands. As you have seen in
my presentation, it is evident that turtles from Puerto Rico go
to different places in the Caribbean.
Indeed, our agency has established several programs,
collaborative programs with neighbor countries such as the
Dominican Republic. Just a few weeks ago we were there, invited
by the Dominican Republic to conduct workshops and train
technicians. In the past we have also been collaborating with
other countries such as Panama and Bonaire, Lesser Antilles.
So we have been very active in doing that, but again the
reason we want this reauthorization bill is because we need to
continue sponsoring this type of measures. Some of these
countries, they have some money, but we need to match them up
to be able to complete the program. But definitely we are
working on that with the few financial funding that we have.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you. Thank you very much.
I have a question for John Robinson, Dr. Robinson. On
Tuesday of this week an art dealer in Philadelphia was charged
with smuggling in about a ton of ivory, representing hundreds
of poached African elephants. How does the Multinational
Species Conservation Fund contribute to stopping wildlife
crime?
Dr. Robinson. Maybe my answer could reflect and just focus
on elephants indeed because the Multinational Species
Conservation Funds directly support a lot of law enforcement
monitoring at sites where elephants occur.
They support information gathering by informant networks in
surrounding communities, information which tends to flow to
government agencies in various countries, and the funds support
interdiction efforts not directly, but the interdiction efforts
of a lot of national level government agencies, so very much
directly supporting law enforcement that deals with the
international wildlife trade.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you. Thank you very much. I want to
thank the Chairman. I am sitting in the Ranking position now so
I asked him for a little bit more time, so I thank you very
much and I yield back.
Mr. Fleming. The gentlelady yields back. Next is Mr.
Miller, the gentleman from California.
Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank all of
the witnesses for their participation and for their testimony
and for their support. I have just a couple of questions.
One, Dr. Robinson, you suggested that you would like to see
this one authorization, the three programs moved together. Is
that consistent with the rest of the members of the panel? Does
anybody have an objection to that?
[No response.]
Mr. Miller. Thank you. It probably makes for an easier
administration in the sense of how you spend your resources
efficiently if we were to do that.
Mr. Hosmer, I want to thank you very much for being here
this morning on behalf of the Safari Club. I said I was in
Kenya. I was actually in Zimbabwe with the Campfire Program
when I was spending time with the antipoaching forces there. I
supported Campfire from the inception and think that it has
made some positive changes. So thank you very much for being
here.
Mr. Somerhalder, thank you so much for being here. I think
one of the great strengths of these programs--I wear another
hat in Congress, and that is I am the senior Democrat on the
Education Committee. These programs also provide a great
education platform for young people in our schools, about
introduction to sciences, a whole range of sciences that they
never saw were interconnected, but in the materials that are
produced are really quite remarkable.
I had the opportunity to be at the Bronx Zoo and watch the
education programs on site at the Bronx Zoo, but then go into
the science high school in Harlem and see the science programs
that were developed there and biology and zoology and seeing
young people knit all of this together, so that is one of the
spinoffs that we see on this side of the Atlantic, if you will,
that is really very, very exciting, and the real-time
presentation of what is going on in the field is also I think
very, very exciting.
I have to say, Mr. Chairman, obviously we are concerned
about demonstrating the benefits and any kind of cost/ benefit
analysis. Something else happens here too that I see maybe a
little bit more domestically sometimes within the National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation, but very often if you go to somebody
and say I am from the Federal government here and I want to
talk to you about the use of your lands or what we might do
here for wetlands or what have you, you don't get a good
response.
But we have also created a whole range of intermediaries,
whether it is Ducks Unlimited or California Waterfowl or
different organizations or Fossey Foundation where they have
created a number of people who can make other points of contact
and talk to people I don't mean in the same language as in
language-language, but in the context of culture and in the
context of heritage and in the context of history.
Very often what we have seen, certainly in creating habitat
in the Central Flyway and the Western Flyway, is people have
stepped up and said I will do you one better. If I can do this
in my family's name and we can live here as long as we are
here, you can have it all. Just do it in the name. We want to
do this for the flyways or what have you.
So there are really all of these other interactions that
take place that it is hard to describe a value to, but when the
Government of South Sudan that has a million things on their
mind, somebody has to find a way to ask them a question so they
can respond in real time because you have to have the answer
now. I think that is what we are seeing here.
So as much as the U.S. Government brings its credibility,
it brings its stability, it creates other avenues where you may
not want the government asking that question or people won't
respond to it because of the politics. That is one of the
exciting things that I have seen on the ground over the years
with these organizations.
Yes, there are some very wealthy people that give huge
amounts of money to all of these organizations, but they also
want to see us have some skin in the game and the
organizational aspects that the government brings or the
foundations bring to this.
So this to me has always been the most exciting. I wish I
could do some of this more so in Education in terms of leverage
and involvement, one of the most exciting things I have seen
develop in the Federal government in my time here because of
the resources.
The idea that Ian--I will use his first name here. That he
would have the ability to transmit to another generation the
magnificence and the importance of these species and the care
of these species and the responsibility. All of those words are
very important in the rest of their lives, but if they can
figure out the responsibility and the care and the importance
here that is a huge gift that this poor, old eight-ball there
didn't know he was getting involved in, but it is quite
remarkable I think if we can see it.
You know, you think about Hyatt or Hilton. Gee, if they
locate and people can swim with the turtles or something they
would think they have a gold mine. Let us remember, these are
economic engines for these nations in many ways, and I think
that was the point of Campfire. It sounds like a very strange
tradeoff, but at that time there wasn't anything else going on
at that moment in Zimbabwe. Actually everything that was going
on was wrong in terms of the interest of these species.
So this is a crazy quilt that has been knit together with
this really small pot of Federal resources, but an exciting
one.
Thank you. You have been very generous with your time, Mr.
Chairman. I hope we can work together to get this legislation
to the Floor and to the President's desk. Thank you so very
much for your interest and your concern.
Mr. Fleming. I thank the gentleman. Certainly I think there
is a consensus that probably the best leverage of Federal
dollars that certainly I have seen is what happens in these
programs. No question about it. You get two for one with
private dollars, and we get tremendous benefits from what is
relatively a low amount of expenditures compared to everything
else. Everything around here starts with a B or a T. It is
always nice to see one that starts with an M.
We have just a few more questions, so if you will hang with
us for just another brief round? I want to follow up on what
Ms. Bordallo was referring to, and that is that a ton of ivory
was confiscated. How many elephants is represented by a ton of
ivory? Is there any calculus on that?
Dr. Robinson. Of course, it depends a little bit on the
size of the tusk, but we are probably dealing with a couple
hundred animals.
Mr. Fleming. OK. So that is a remarkable number. Now, I
haven't traveled in Asia since the late 1970s, but I remember
both in Hong Kong and also mainland China and other places
virtually any retail store you went to there was a tremendous
amount of ivory and beautiful ivory pieces that had been formed
and fashioned into very decorative items. Would I see that
today if I traveled in Asia?
Dr. Robinson. You would actually see a fair bit of it. A
lot of it probably would be illegal, although meant to be
illegal. The amount of ivory carving though is significantly
less than it once was.
There have been one-off sales of confiscated ivory from
range state countries. That is legal. So there is a fair bit of
ivory still on the market and still a fair bit of ivory being
carved.
Mr. Fleming. Because obviously as long as there is a market
for it there is going to be a drive because ultimately it is a
financial equation for many.
What about the buy-in from other countries? You know, we
are contributing. We have certainly our private partners in
this. We have the countries themselves cooperating with us.
What about other countries that can afford to help out? Are we
getting buy-in from them? Anyone?
Dr. Robinson. I am sorry to keep monopolizing these
answers. What we are seeing actually in a number of countries
is the very fact that the U.S. Government involvement in some
of these efforts is really triggering a recognition that
wildlife conservation is hugely important.
I have just come back from Thailand where the government is
doing some very, very significant antipoaching against tiger
poaching. There is a level of commitment that we have never
seen in the past, and I think it is related directly to exactly
these issues.
Mr. Fleming. So you would feel and your suggestion is that
if the U.S. were to for some reason not be involved other
countries that are today would perhaps not be involved or
disengage in some way?
Dr. Robinson. Yes. I mean, the tiger issue is actually a
very important one. The Multinational Species Conservation Fund
supported tiger conservation at a time when tiger conservation
was not in vogue.
There was significant pickup politically around the world.
There was the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit that was hosted by
Prime Minister Putin in November, and yet the intellectual
imprint of the U.S. in pushing forward tiger conservation is
significant and continuing. The U.S. was not an official
partner at that summit, but our fingerprints were all over it.
Mr. Fleming. OK. I thank the gentleman. I yield then to Ms.
Bordallo for her questioning.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for
allowing a second round here.
I would like to add to what the Chairman talked about,
ivory being sold, figurines, jewelry. When I first came to
Guam, my home, right after the war I did see a lot of ivory in
stores, but you don't see as much as you did in those days, and
that was way back in 1948, 1949, 1950.
But when I was Chair of this particular Committee in the
last Congress, one of our witnesses was the CEO of Tiffany's,
and because there is a lot of concern about destroying coral--
we had a number of bills that we were hearing--he came to
testify. Tiffany's today does not sell any coral jewelry.
So I think if we get out there and try to talk to some of
these people they would suspend selling this precious like
ivory, coral and other things, but I just wanted to add that to
what you were talking about.
I do have a question for Director Saito. Some have
criticized these conservation funds as an unwise use of
taxpayers' money. However, I understand these programs are able
to significantly leverage their resources with outside matching
funds.
So could you speak to the value and the effectiveness of
these species conservation funds, particularly with regard to
other conservation programs?
Ms. Saito. May I ask for a clarification when you reference
other conservation programs?
Ms. Bordallo. That is correct.
Ms. Saito. Any conservation programs?
Ms. Bordallo. Any.
Ms. Saito. OK. I think that one of the real values of the
Multinational Species Funds is that we are able to have
private/public partnerships that have really worked well, and
these private partnerships have brought money to the table at a
rate of roughly $1 is matched with another $1.50, so you are
seeing many organizations chipping in money to help fund these
projects.
When we have a call for proposals we are looking for
proposals that have matching funding attached to them because
that is another way that we can leverage the funds, the few
funds that we have, so this is a really important feature of
the Multinational Species Conservation Funds.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you. For Dr. Robinson again, can you
provide an example of how the Multinational Species
Conservation Funds supports United States development goals by
improving local livelihoods, health and opportunities for women
and youth?
Dr. Robinson. I think there is a pretty tight correlation
between wildlife and human livelihoods. Wildlife can provide
benefits, and Mr. Diez gave some very nice examples of sea
turtles providing benefits in Puerto Rico. Wildlife also is a
threat sometimes to human livelihoods, and some of the
conservation funds have been used to deal with the conflict
actually between wildlife and people in landscapes.
Elephants, for instance, have a very strong negative impact
on crops if those crops are near protected areas, and the funds
have supported a whole range of programs aimed at mitigating
the impact, mitigating that conflict between elephants and
people. Once you can mitigate that impact and actually generate
benefits from the elephant conservation then people support
that elephant conservation, and of course that has direct
impacts on livelihoods. It has especially direct impact on
women who do much of the work in those agricultural landscapes.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you very much, Doctor.
And one last question, which I am sure that all of us are
very curious about, and it is for Ian Somerhalder. How did you
come to care about international wildlife conservation?
Mr. Somerhalder. Thank you for that question. I am from the
Gulf Coast of Louisiana, and due to when you grow up in an
ecosystem as delicate as that you obviously learn a very quick
appreciation. It is familial. It is environmental.
In the wake of the BP oil spill last year I realized that
the balance that we are all hanging in has gotten to a point
where it is so drastic and somewhat dire that I could not sit
around and watch anymore. It is much better to be proactive.
I understand that I have such a youth outreach component,
so if you can create generational change, if you can instill in
youth what we are all talking about right now, then I think
what you have is an entire new generation of sort of foot
soldiers of conservation.
When you make young people understand that clean air,
water, food and medicine are not only just national security
risks to the United States, but to every nation, to every
family and essentially every person.
Ms. Bordallo. Well, thank you very much, and thank you, Mr.
Chairman, for allowing me a few extra questions.
T1Mr. Fleming. OK. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Miller?
Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You have been very
generous with your time.
I would just like to ask unanimous consent that a letter
from Dr. Jane Goodall in support of this legislation be made a
part of this hearing record.
Mr. Fleming. OK. Without objection, so ordered.
Mr. Miller. Thank you.
[The letter from Dr. Goodall follows:]
Statement of Jane Goodall, Ph.D., DBE, Founder,
The Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace
Dear Chairman Fleming and Members of the Subcommittee:
Thank you for inviting me to testify at this very important
hearing. While my schedule unfortunately prevents me from speaking in
person today, I am grateful for the opportunity to submit this
statement in strong support of Congressman George Miller's legislation,
H.R. 1760, ``The Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Amendments Act
of 2011.''
The Great Ape Conservation Fund, established by this Act, has
supported numerous successful projects to address the protection of
apes, including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos and gibbons.
But there is still a great deal to be done if we are to stop, or
even slow, their march towards extinction.
Since its creation, the Great Ape Conservation Fund has supported
enormously efficient and cost effective programs. Of course, a dollar
goes a lot further in many developing countries than it does in the
U.S. But even more significant is the fact that a relatively small
amount of federal investment in the fund has leveraged a great deal of
public and private contributions.
In large part due to the support of the U.S. government, the Jane
Goodall Institute (JGI) has been able to attract additional funding
from a variety of other sources in the U.S. and in foreign countries.
For example, U.S. funds have helped JGI pioneer a successful program in
Tanzania to address deforestation by working with local communities.
This U.S. commitment led the Royal Norwegian Embassy in 2009 to award
JGI a $2.7 million grant to expand this work to a much larger
chimpanzee habitat to the south. Without the leverage from U.S.
support, we could not pursue the integrated approach to conservation
that we know is the only hope for saving chimpanzees and a host of
other species. We are able to help local communities living near
chimpanzee habitat make a living in ways that do not destroy the forest
and improve their lives so that they do not transmit disease to the
chimpanzees. This approach is good for the chimpanzees, for the local
communities and, indeed, for all of us.
As the threats to great apes mount, the need for support far
outstrips the amount of funding available.
Habitat loss from the extraction of lumber, minerals and other
natural resources for the manufacture of commercial products; rapidly
increasing local populations who are struggling to survive; hunting for
the commercial, illegal bushmeat and pet trades; human-wildlife
conflicts; and outbreaks of deadly disease are some of the gravest
pressures facing great apes.
Yet, the potential benefits of supporting great ape protection are
increasing, as well. Grants through the Great Ape Conservation Fund
have supported projects such as wild ape research, efforts to monitor
the health of wildlife, and work to halt the trade and consumption of
illegal, commercial bushmeat, which has been linked to disease
transmission between humans and wildlife. By protecting ecosystems, the
fund also protects natural pharmacological ingredients. The
prescription drugs made from these ingredients have widespread health
benefits and are a major driver of U.S. economic growth. More than half
of the most prescribed medications in the U.S. contain an ingredient
derived from nature.
Programs supported by the fund also have helped to advance U.S.
security goals by stabilizing communities in areas of the world often
fraught with conflict and where governments remain fragile. These
programs create job opportunities and development within these regions,
reducing the chances of conflict while opening up foreign markets to
U.S. trade. In addition, by focusing governments and communities on a
common cause, conservation efforts can build diplomatic relationships
and help to prevent conflict.
Finally, great apes themselves promote the health and diversity of
ecosystems. Great apes help to disperse the seeds of the fruits they
eat, eliminating them on new ground. This underpins entire ecological
communities. By protecting great ape habitat, we are also protecting
the myriad of species that share the same ecosystems as the apes and
the natural products that millions of people depend on for survival. In
the Congo Basin, where four of the five great ape species live, the
forests provide food, shelter and livelihoods for many of the region's
60 million people.
Thus, while the plight of great apes in Africa or Asia may seem far
away, their fate should concern us all. Measures to protect great apes
impact our health, security, environment and more.
Finally, I cannot speak about chimpanzees without mentioning what
to me is so important--the fact that there is still so much to learn
about and from chimpanzees and other great apes. As I have said on
previous occasions, future generations will not easily forgive us if we
allow the great apes to become extinct on our watch. Please take this
into account as you consider this important legislation.
Thank you for allowing me to contribute to this hearing. I applaud
Congressman Miller for taking the lead on it and Chairman Fleming for
calling this hearing so that I and others can explain why it is so
important.
______
Mr. Fleming. Additionally, for the record, we have a letter
or actually testimony from Mr. Jack Hanna, whom we all know, a
letter from Kenneth Feld, a statement by Jane Goodall, as well
as a letter, and also a letter represented by 24 conservation
groups. I offer that to be submitted to the record. No
objection, so ordered.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hanna follows:]
Statement of Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium,
on H.R. 50, H.R. 1760, and H.R. 1761
Thank you Chairman Hastings, Ranking Member Markey, and the members
of the House Committee on Natural Resources for allowing me to provide
testimony about three critically important bills, H.R. 50, H.R. 1760,
and H.R. 1761, which would reauthorize programs benefitting some of the
most well-known and threatened species in the world.
My love for animals is a lifelong passion. As a boy I worked for
our family's veterinarian. I worked at the Central Florida Zoo in the
mid-1970s, and in 1978, I became director of the Columbus Zoo. During
my time there we increased attendance in part by focusing on events
that would engage and educate the public about animals they probably
would never have the opportunity to see in person if not for zoos and
aquariums. Since 1992 I have been Director Emeritus at the Columbus Zoo
which allows me the time to focus on additional efforts that increase
awareness about animals and cultures from all parts of the globe.
I want to note the extraordinary efforts of the nation's accredited
zoos and aquariums in conserving wildlife. With 178 million visitors to
223 accredited zoos and aquariums each year, these institutions connect
people with animals. According to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
(AZA), accredited zoos and aquariums have provided more than
$90,000,000 per year over the past 5 years to support more than 4,000
field conservation and research projects in more than 100 countries.
Zoos and aquariums also are critical partners in rescue,
rehabilitation, confiscation, and reintroduction efforts for
distressed, threatened, and endangered species.
More than twenty years ago, AZA established the Species Survival
Plan (SSP) program--a long-term plan involving genetically diverse
breeding, habitat preservation, public education, field conservation
and supportive research to ensure survival for many threatened and
endangered species. SSP species are often ``flagship species,'' well-
known animals such as the giant panda, California condor, and lowland
gorilla. There are currently more than 300 SSP Programs.
The bills before the Committee today for its review--H.R. 50, the
``Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act of
2011,'' H.R 1760, the ``Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization
Amendments Act of 2011,'' and H.R. 1761, the ``Marine Turtle
Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2011''--are vital to the successful
sustainability of some of the greatest animal species. I want to
commend the sponsors of these bills, Representatives Don Young, George
Miller, and Pedro Pierluisi, as well as the cosponsors, for their
leadership on species protection.
We know that these animals face significant challenges including
deforestation, poaching, and development in their habitats. The funds
provided by Congress have served as the catalyst for the implementation
of hundreds of projects worldwide ranging from highly sophisticated and
innovative data collection, tracking, research and monitoring programs
to providing essential on-the-ground resources to game wardens and law
enforcement officials who have been entrusted to protect these
magnificent animals from the dangers that they face daily. These
programs also recognize the value of promoting cooperative projects
among government entities, NGOs and the affected local communities in
the range states.
In addition, these programs have leveraged more than three times
the U.S. federal investment through matching contributions from public
and private partners. These funds have also been effectively and
efficiently managed and distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. During these difficult economic times of budgetary challenges,
it is precisely these types of programs that deserve Congress's
support.
Again, I want to thank Chairman Hastings, Ranking Member Markey,
and the members of the committee for your past support of wildlife
conservation, and I look forward to working with you in the future on
these very important issues.
Thank you.
______
Mr. Fleming. I am reminded by my staff associate here, Mr.
Burroughs, that the slogan back in the 1970s was that only
elephants should wear ivory, and certainly that is something we
should take away from today.
Also, I would like to ask the members of the panel--I came
in late because of a meeting that ran late in the Capitol--I
haven't had a chance to meet any of you. Some of the Members on
the dais here may also, so if you have a moment to stick around
after adjournment we would appreciate that as well.
If there are no other questions, I would like to thank all
the witnesses today for your valuable testimony and
contributions. Members of the Subcommittee may have additional
questions for the witnesses, and we ask that you respond to
these in writing. The hearing record will open for 10 days to
receive these responses.
I want to thank Members and staff for their contributions
to this hearing. If there is no further business, without
objection the Subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:51 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
[Additional material submitted for the record follows:]
[A letter submitted for the record by Kenneth J. Feld,
Chairman and CEO, Entertainment, Inc., follows:]
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[A letter submitted for the record by the Multinational
Species Coalition on H.R. 50, H.R. 1760, and H.R. 1761
follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]