The Endangered Species Act is underfunded
Biodiversity is declining around the globe, with approximately one million species threatened with extinction in the coming decades! The U.S. Endangered Species Act is one of the strongest wildlife laws in the world and was created to combat this loss. Tell Congress that in the face of a growing biodiversity crisis, funding the ESA has never been more important.
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Right now, about 200 species like the Prairie gray fox, are waiting to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. All these vulnerable species will need these protections in order to survive.But a recent analysis from Defenders of Wildlife’s Center for Conservation Innovation found that the agencies tasked at implementing the ESA are drastically underfunded - at less than 50% of what they need to prevent extinction and recover species.
Funding helps ensure there are enough resources to develop, update, and carry out recovery plans for each animal. Currently, about 400 species already listed under ESA are missing a recovery plan altogether, and nearly 900 plans are outdated - in some cases by more than 20 years!
Fully funding the ESA will help species like the San Marcos salamander that are facing threats from invasive species and climate change and help the Sonoyta mud turtle get the recovery plans they desperately need.
Even keystone species like the Southern sea otter are severely underfunded.
So, speak up for the foxes, salamanders, sea otters, and hundreds of other endangered species facing extinction. Tell Congress that in the face of a growing biodiversity crisis, funding the ESA has never been more important.
Meg Evansen
Previous Conservation Science and Policy Analyst
As the previous Conservation Science and Policy Analyst in the Center for Conservation Innovation at Defenders, Meg assisted with the analysis of scientific research and policy implementation to find new and creative solutions for wildlife conservation.