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The Future of Biodiversity. Environmental Explorations 2012. Captive Breeding. From the presentations, it is obvious that captive breeding does not really work. Preserve habitats and ecosystems. Preservation of habitat is certainly the best way to save species
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The Future of Biodiversity Environmental Explorations 2012
Captive Breeding • From the presentations, it is obvious that captive breeding does not really work.
Preserve habitats and ecosystems • Preservation of habitat is certainly the best way to save species • Unfortunately, some species require so much land area that it is not possible due to 7 billion
Conservation Strategies • Focus on hotspots • Identify areas of native habitat that communities are willing to preserve • Promote eco tourism and eco friendly products • No easy answers and too many questions
Legal protection • US Endangered Species Act • Designed to protect species in danger of extinction • Fish and Wildlife Service in charge of compiling lists yearly • Protects species from human harm, buying or selling of products • Any Federal project that harms a species will be cancelled
Species Recovery Plan • Part of ESA • USFWS must prepare a species recovery plan for each endangered species • Protect or restore habitat • Often conflicts with developers • Often trade offs/ compromises worked out, some of which do not really benefit the species but gets the government to back off
International Law • International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) • Publishes Red List of species in danger of extinction worldwide
CITES Treaty • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species • Bans sales on wildlife products such as ivory and rhino horn • Has been effective in stopping poaching in some cases
Biodiversity Treaty • Sponsored by UN • Came out of Earth Summit, 1992 • Goal of treaty is to preserve biodiversity worldwide to ensure sustainability and fair use of genetic resources
Balancing • Human needs versus wildlife needs • A very big dilemma • No easy answers