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| An overview of SCB's Policy Approval Process is available here.
After reviewing the policy page and resources, one of the most effective ways you can bring science to policymakers is to establish relationships with your government officials wherever you are.
In the U.S., for example, citizens can get to know their Senators, Members of Congress and agency officials working on issues they care about most. Under "Policy Tools and Guidelines for SCB Members" on the navigation bar to the left, we have web sites for offices and research reports to help guide you through the international and U.S. federal policy ecosystems. U.S. SCB members may also want to call the Capitol Operator at 202-225-3121, and ask to be connected to the offices of your House Members and Senators and Committees of interest. |
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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.
Policy News:
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Established -- May 8, 2012
On April 21, 2012, after nearly decade of negotiations, more than 90 nations from around the world agreed to establish an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). IPBES will likely function similarly to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by providing a government-supported interface between the scientific community and policy makers regarding issues surrounding the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and by building capacity for and strengthen the use of science in policy making. This will be the first global mechanism that brings information regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services together, synthesizes that information, and provides analyses of that information for decision makers.
SCB has been an active participant and contributor to many of the negotiations focusing on the establishment of IPBES for many years. For the meeting in Panama in April, SCB sent a four person delegation led by Bengt-Gunnar “Bege” Jonsson from Sweden, accompanied by Carolyn Lundquist from New Zealand, Olivier Chassot from Costa Rica, and Brett Hartl from the D.C. policy office.
- A full recap of the Panama meeting, as well as an analysis of what the establishment of IPBES means for SCB can be found HERE.
- The full press release from the United Nations Environmental Program, with a statement by Carolyn Lundquist from SCB, regarding the establishment of IPBES can be found HERE.
- Additional information on IPBES can be found HERE.
- Read SCB's Position Paper for the April 2012 meeting
SCB and Allies Urge Federal Agencies to Apply Wildlife Laws to Help Restore Damage Done by Deepwater Horizon Spill-- April 20, 2012
Today marks the second anniversary of the largest oil spill in US history. As the Deepwater Horizon well spewed oil for weeks into the Gulf of Mexico it created a series of lethal and degrading effects upon federally-protected wildlife and birds, which would normally be violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and other federal laws. Yet it appears that the Department of Justice has not filed a civil or criminal complaint seeking fines or other relief for the apparent violations of the ESA and other federal wildlife laws.
SCB, The Wildlife Society (TWS), The Ornithological Council, and The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, USFWS Director Dan Ashe and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, urge one or more complaints be filed and fines levied for each of the documented and scientifically probable takes that resulted from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The signatories emphasize that a strong deterrent is needed to assure that the Deepwater Horizon parties and other oil companies refrain from such conduct in the future. The impacts of the spill on protected birds, mammals and sea life will persist far into the future and could require hundreds of millions of dollars or more in restoration to correct the damage.
>> Read the letter here
Request for Environmental Impact Statement of Proposed Active Forest Management in Spotted Owl Critical Habitat -- April 2, 2012
Calling for continued science-based protection for threatened northern spotted owls, the Society for Conservation Biology, The Wildlife Society, and the American Ornithologists’ Union joined together today in asking the Department of the Interior (DOI) to reconsider its proposal for commercial timber harvesting in the Pacific Northwest.
In a letter to DOI Secretary Ken Salazar, SCB, TWS, and AOU called for a full environmental impact statement (EIS) and peer-reviewed scientific assessment on the potential impacts of a DOI proposal that would allow substantial commercial timber harvesting in the critical habitat of threatened northern spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest. The societies are recommending that the EIS identify a range of experimental forestry techniques, appropriate scientific methodologies to assess those techniques, and a scientific process for evaluating impacts on northern spotted owls.
Read the letter to Secretary Salazar HERE
Read the press release that calls for a full EIS HERE
SCB Comments on Problematic Proposal "On Significant Portion of Its Range"; Offers Alternative to Prevent Weakening the Impact of the Endangered Species Act -- March 8, 2012
Today, the Society for Conservation Biology submitted extensive comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the Services’ draft policy defining the phrase “significant portion of its range.” Because the U.S. Endangered Species Act allows the Services to list species as threatened or endangered based on threats “throughout all or a significant portion” of a species’ range, it is critically important that this definition be based on the best available scientific research in order to effectively conserve biodiversity.
SCB outlined several areas where the Services’ draft policy appears to ignore several key principles from the field of conservation biology. Most importantly, the policy appears to ignore the basic purpose of the ESA, which clearly envisions protecting declining species, and the ecosystems on which they depend, before they become threatened or endangered with extinction globally, and to restore such threatened species that have been extirpated from significant portions of their historic range.
The comments were approved by the Society’s global Policy Committee, which includes conservation scientists and other experts in a wide range of the sciences and law, and filed on behalf of the Society’s North America and Marine Sections.
The text of SCB’s comments can be found HERE.
Background provided by the Fish and Wildlife Service on the Services’ draft policy can be found HERE.
A critique of the Services’ draft policy by the House Natural Resources Committee’s ranking minority member can be found HERE.
SCB to Ask the President of Brazil to Veto Forest Code Amendments -- February 29, 2012
The Presidents of the Society for Conservation Biology and its ANA (Latin America and the Caribbean) Section delivered a letter and a formal resolution to Brazil President Dilma Rousseff asking her to veto amendments to the Brazilian Forest Code that would weaken measures in place since 1965 that protect against deforestation in the Amazon.
The bill, passed by Brazil’s senate, would amend a 47-year-old forest code that restricted the amount of land farmers could clear. Until recent years the code was not well enforced. When enforcement of the Forest Code increased under former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, powerful agricultural interests in Brazil began work to loosen restrictions in the code. Now, under the bill that is expected to come before new president Dilma Rousseff in March, farmers who would have been required to reforest 55m hectares of land illegally cleared prior to 2008, will only be required to reforest 24m hectares, and farmers who own up to 1,087 hectares would not have to pay penalties for land illegally cleared prior to 2008. The updated code would also change restrictions on clearing trees from riverbanks and hillsides as buffer zones, which would be calculated according to dry-season river flows, dramatically reducing the size of the buffer zones in many cases. Loopholes in the bill could also allow landholders in some states to reduce in other ways the amount of forest cover required by current law.
Supporters of the bill, overwhelmingly from the small but powerful agricultural sector, say it reduces regulatory burdens on small farmers, simplifies an overly complicated and confusing forest code that has been amended numerous times since 1965, and will ultimately lead to less deforestation by legalizing properties lacking land titles, thus making it easier to track illegal clearing.
A poll conducted last May on the Forest Code highlights the power of agricultural interests in Brazil’s Congress, as the majority of Brazilians, 85 percent according to the poll, say forests and rivers should take priority over agricultural production. This popular support for conservation of the Amazon has translated into undeniable progress in Brazil in recent years to protect the world’s largest rain forest. A government report released in December showed that deforestation in the Amazon is at its lowest level since satellite tracking began.
Federal Budget Request for Wildlife Conservation: Not keeping up with numbers in need-- February 13, 2012
WASHINGTON – Today, the White House released the President's budget for Fiscal Year 2013, outlining the administration's priorities for the coming fiscal year which begins in October. Passing the Federal budget each year represents one of the primary ways that Congress is able to influence how biodiversity is protected within the United States. The first step in this process occurs when the President releases his budget. Read the full article here >>
SCB to Interior: "Enhance Wolf Protection in Natural Dispersal Corridors, Do Not Rely on Human Transport In Wyoming Wolf Delisting Rule"-- January 13, 2012
Read SCB's comments here
SCB Proposes Win-Win Solutions for More Open Access to Publications and Data and for Scientific Societies as Publishers
-- January 12, 2012
SCB Among the Leaders of the Scientific Community In Developing An Intergovernmental Science - Policy Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
Our SCB team leader writes--
"...[C]omments on the UNEP documents (Programme of Work and Rules of Procedure) have been posted on the IPBES home page (www.ipbes.net). There you can see our response in relation to a number of governments and other stakeholder organizations."
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.
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