The biodiversity crisis in the United States continues to become more dire each year, with threats like climate change and habitat loss impeding the persistence and recovery of species and natural communities. Over a third of species in the U.S. are at risk of extinction according to NatureServe’s 2023 assessment (NatureServe, 2023). The United States needs a comprehensive strategy to assess its conservation progress and plan to implement new solutions and policies to address the biodiversity crisis. Unfortunately, the U.S. is the only United Nations member that has not ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the primary international agreement for biodiversity conservation, which requires that its signatories submit a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP). Thus, the U.S. has not created an NBSAP. Conservation interests have advocated for the creation of a U.S. National Biodiversity Strategy (Gerber et al., 2023), and members of both the House and Senate have introduced resolutions expressing the need to create one (Neguse, 2023; Merkley, 2023). To inform development of a hypothetical U.S. NBSAP, we evaluated the NBSAPs from ten other countries to determine how well they assessed the status of their species and habitats, developed effective conservation-related strategies with measurable indicators, and planned to implement these strategies. Our analysis found that many plans did well in certain areas and can serve as models for a U.S. plan. Other NBSAPs lacked detail and did not consider important aspects of conservation planning. These plans can help U.S. officials avoid similar shortcomings.
