Welcome to the Society for Conservation Biology Policy web site.
The goal of the Society is to bring vital science to those making policy decisions helping them make sound judgments when creating policy.
SCB is preparing to participate in a second session of organizing the panel in Panama in April 2012 so that scientific societies can take part in IPBES and bring the best possible scientific knowledge to international and other policy-makers.
- A PDF of the Comments on the draft for Rules of Procedure for the platform's plenary is available for download here
- The IPBES Work Programme Elements - DRAFT is available here
SCB to Continue Scrutiny of Tar Sands, Pipelines as Keystone XL Decision is Delayed
SCB President Paul Beier joined Policy Committee Member and Canadian scientist, Paul Paquet, in issuing the following statement:
"SCB plans to continue its strong scrutiny of the entire tar sands process as well as any alternate routes for the Keystone XL and Enbridge Pipelines. It seems likely that any routes will still cause great harm to the whooping crane, several ecosystems in Canada and the United States, and the earth's climate."
U.S. to Delay Decision on Pipeline Until After Election
By JOHN M. BRODER and DAN FROSCH -- November 11, 2011
The White House is expected to delay a decision on the contested $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline for 12 to 18 months while it studies an alternate route, officials said on Thursday...
SCB Poses Six Questions for the Secretary of State to Answer Before She Approves the Keystone XL Pipeline -- October 9, 2011
With continuing questions that Canadian experts are raising about the sustainability of the Enbridge oil sands pipeline as well, SCB submitted the a series of six questions and comments to the State Department.
>> Read the full letter here <<
SCB Requests Better Review of Tar Sands Pipeline and Impact on Whooping Crane
News release amended on Sept. 2 to include link to June 2010 comments from SCB on the State Department's Draft Environmental Impact Study
Washington, D.C., August 24th, 2011
As climate scientists, farmers, conservation groups and concerned citizens continue two weeks of protests at the White House in opposition to permitting a large new pipeline to carry partially refined tar from Alberta to the Gulf Coast, the world's largest international conservation science society reminded the Obama Administration of the hazards the pipeline poses to the environment, particularly the highly endangered whooping crane.
"In addition to its well known climate change impact, the Keystone XL pipeline would threaten the whooping crane -- one of the most highly endangered birds in the world -- from one end of its migration route and habitat to the other," said Dominick DellaSala, an ecologist and president of the North American Section of the Society for Conservation Biology.
>> Read the full press release here <<
SCB Recommends Six Steps for Clearer Wolf Recovery In Comments on Interior's Status Review and Delisting Proposal July 5, 2011
>>Read the recommendations here<<
Scientific Society Finds Proposed Forest Rule Inadequate to Conserve Forest Ecosystems
Washington, D.C., May 16, 2011
The Forest Service should enact stronger science-based standards in its proposed national framework for the management of 155 National Forests and 20 Grasslands according to the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB; www.conbio.org), an international conservation society with nearly 10,000 members worldwide.
SCB along with some of the nation's top scientists reviewed each of five focus areas in the agencies' draft Environmental Impact Statement on the service's proposed rule. While reviewers noted that the planning rule was in certain respects a marked improvement over the 1982 forest rule that is currently in effect, they called on the Forest Service to make improvements in order to reach the agencies' stated goal of protecting water and wildlife in a changing climate and to meet the requirements of the law in today's world.
>> Read the full report here <<
SCB Supports the UN in Establishing an Intergovernmental Science – Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Read more about it here:
SCB Chapters, Marine and Oceania Sections Request Marine Protected Area Designation for Antarctic Ross Sea
This formal SCB comment filed by Policy Director John Fitzgerald was initiated by Chapters, improved by relevant Section Policy Leaders and the Policy Committee and Coordinated by Chapter Policy Coordinator Cameron Kovatch. This action combined with a parallel professional presence in the Marine negotiations at the October 2010 COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity demonstrate how SCB can be engaged in treaty operations in a way that integrates our component parts to address more than one relevant treaties. (See related report on the CBD.)
Department of Interior Makes Progress on Spotted Owl Recovery Plan But the Plan Remains Deficient
Click here to read a review on behalf of SCB and the Americal Ornithologists' Union
SCB Urges Climate Talks' Leaders To Use Recent Findings on Biodiversity, Climate, and Ecosystems' Carbon Storage
Read this letter, sent on December 6th, to the Honorable Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary United Nations Framework Convention here.
SCB Urges Secretary Salazar to Take Six-Steps to Save the Mexican Wolf -- The Secretary Announces Reforms
On November 23rd, the Society for Conservation Biology sent a letter to the Secretary of the Interior recommending the six steps toward recovery for the highly endangered Mexican wolf in the American Southwest. That day he announced changes in the Mexican wolf recovery program.
The full letter is available here and the summary of our six recommendations is available here.
Scientific Society Praises Interior’s Principles for Scientific Integrity
and
Asks That They Be Applied Now to Specific Decisions
“The Society for Conservation Biology is very pleased with the principles released today by Secretary Salazar to guide his agencies in developing detailed requirements for ensuring the integrity of science in their decisions. This is a giant step toward protecting our natural heritage and public trust from the abuse that was documented time and again by Inspectors General reports and the Governmental Accountability Office in 2007 and 2008” said John Fitzgerald, an attorney and Policy Director of SCB. Click here for the rest of SCB's response...
SCB and Allies Urge U.S. Land Management Agencies to Designate and Protect Wildlife Corridors
As Part of “America’s Great Outdoors” Initiative
SCB Comments on the Keystone XL Pipeline Project Proposed for the Alberta Oil Sands
SCB and Sister Societies’ Call for Scientific Integrity Across the Interior Department Sparks Response and Action
•Initial letter to Interior Secretary Salazar
•Interior’s Response
SCB appreciates the recent naming of SCB members as Scientific Advisors to US Fish and Wildlife Service and the former Minerals Management Service and looks forward to working with the Scientific Advisors of Interior to enhance the protection of science and of those who develop it and use it in the conservation of natural resources.
SCB and the White House – Recommendations to the 2008 Transition Team and Beyond
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Recommendations for actions by the Obama Administration and the Congress to advance the scientific foundation for conserving biological diversity
- Presidential Executive Order on Environmental, Energy & Economic Performance:
The Executive Order includes, among other things, requirements for agencies to account for the greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration on federal lands. Bullet 3 in Section 3 of SCB’s Recommendations to Obama and his transition team called for this order.
Click here to read the Presidential Executive Order on Environmental, Energy & Economic Performance, 10/5/2009
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SCB submits comments on scientific integrity to Obama administration, recommendations incorporated into final presidential memo
SCB submitted recommendations in mid-May 2009 as our part of a drive by President Obama to increase scientific integrity in the executive branch. The scientific integrity initiative was announced at an event in the White House on March 9th, attended by SCB’s Policy Chair John Fitzgerald. Click here to read these recommendations . The next steps involved a task force of SCB Members to work with the Administration and others to fulfill the promise that the President made, as more detailed recommendations were drafted. [Read more]
- Obama signs Memo on Scientific Integrity, March 9, 2009
President Obama in one memo today has taken several more steps toward implementing SCB's recommendations, and those of our allies, on protecting the integrity of science in the appointment and decision-making process. We will ask a task force of SCB Members to work with the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Office of Management and Budget and others to fulfill the promise that the President has made today as they draft more detailed recommendations over the next 120 days. [Read more]
SCB Briefs Leaders on New Forest Findings, Climate Change and SCB Climate Policy Recommendations
Inspired by interest expressed by SCB leaders from around the world who attended our conference and climate-related workshops in Beijing in July of 2009, and propelled by new findings summarized in the Summer of 2009 in SCB’s Conservation Magazine, SCB’s policy staff, Policy Committee and others worked from late July into November distilling our previous testimony and incorporating new information into a short set of climate policy principles.
The basic message is that we now have evidence that whole rainforests can -- and in 2005 for one year, the Amazon did -- die faster than they grow, in response to climate driven drought and heat, in this case resulting in higher net emissions of carbon dioxide than the CO2 emitted by all of Europe and Japan. Because life as we know it relies upon the Amazon rain forest, and all forests, we do not have any significant room left for additional greenhouse gases and we must reduce them now. The climate policy principles offer ways forward and cite studies offering further details as well.
These principles and supporting notes are intended for climate negotiators, legislators, and executive agency decision-makers. Before the document’s release, and before the Committee reported its legislation to the Senate, SCB sent early drafts to Senate Environment Committee staff. SCB staff and senior members have briefed the Congressional Research Service, the staff of the Speaker of the House, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and others. We have also shared the document with senior staff of the United Nations Environment Programme under whose auspices the climate negotiations are taking place.
Accurate and Effective Use of Science in Forming and Applying Policy
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And a Suggestion for Scientific Review Procedures in Climate Policies
Click here to see the slides prepared for the symposium presentation at SCB’s European Conference, ECCB2009 (Prague, Czech Republic) by John Fitzgerald, SCB Policy Director and his suggestions at the end for ensuring the best science in climate policies
Policy News from the 2009 International Congress for Conservation Biology in Beijing
Among the many worthy symposia and workshops at ICCB in Beijing in July were two sessions that spoke directly to two of the greatest challenges that many nations, and China in particular face: climate change and controlling unsustainable trade in wildlife. Click on the links below to view the powerpoint presentations SCB's Policy Director used for those sessions:
Endangered Species News
• Comments in response to the Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement Related to Experimental Removal of Barred Owls for the Conservation Benefit of Threatened Northern Spotted Owls
• On July 17th 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that his department will overturn the Bush Administration recovery plan for the Northern Spotted Owl. This is a great step forward for the protection of the Spotted Owl. The US Fish and Wildlife Service also announced that it will reevaluate the Bush era critical habitat protections for the Bull Trout. SCB has worked with the Endangered Species Coalition (ESC) to get these flawed plans overturned. Our Policy Director, John Fitzgerald, has served as an advisor for ESC and many of our members were chosen by ESC to meet with congressional and administration officials about these plans. For more information on these announcements please visit the ESC blog.
IMCC Individual Scientists sign-on letter
As a part of the Marine Section’s International Marine Conservation Congress, SCB and the Marine Conservation Biology Institute hosted a hill day for conference attendees. Inspired by meetings with congressional staff, SCB and MCBI leaders drafted an individual scientists sign-on letter to request enhanced funding for NOAA. IMCC organizers circulated the letter for conference attendees to sign. While this letter was produced during the IMCC, SCB’s Marine Section may soon develop a more comprehensive request for appropriations.
SCB North American President Elect Testifies on Climate Change and Public Lands
On Wednesday, March 3 incoming President of the NA Section, Dominick DellaSala testified in the House subcommittee on national parks, forests, and public lands in a hearing on "combating global warming in public lands."
Dominick was assisted by SCB Policy Director John Fitzgerald and SCB policy intern Calen May Tobin. They made the rounds on the Hill before and after the hearing. There are several bills in the works in both the House and Senate on climate change and the Obama administration is also moving quickly on new policies. SCB is playing a key role in helping to shape these policies by bringing science and scientists to decision makers.
House Natural Resources Committee Membership and Plans for 2009
On February 4, the Committee on Natural Resources held an organizational meeting to adopt the Committee Rules and agree to an oversight plan. Visit the Committee Web site to the view the Committee Members and Subcommittee assignments for the 111th Congress.
Introductions to U.S. Federal Policy Work
Colleagues of ours at the Ornithological Council and National Council for Science and the Environment have written convenient introductions to the U.S. policy process and how to participate: Policy Basics (pdf) and Blockstein on Advocacy by Scientists (pdf)
Recent Happenings
Many of the SCB sections are busy at work with their regional policies. Below, you will find links to the SCB Sections' Policy Information:
Please email our Policy Director, John Fitzgerald, if you have any questions.
