“The biodiversity and extinction crises deserve every ounce of our attention and commitment to science and data driven decision-making. We applaud President Biden taking meaningful action. Our nation’s rich biodiversity supports every aspect of life and we can’t afford to let it disappear. These timely initiatives will provide important new tools to track the escalating biodiversity crisis and help inform policy decisions. We hope these announcements catalyze the adoption of a broader national biodiversity strategy for a comprehensive local, state and federal response to combat biodiversity loss.” 

Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife.
Washington, DC

Defenders of Wildlife welcomed an announcement by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo that the Biden administration is adopting two major initiatives – the National Nature Assessment and the Natural Capital Account – that will create a stronger scientific and economic foundation for curbing the acceleration of climate change and the extinction crises. 

“The biodiversity and extinction crises deserve every ounce of our attention and commitment to science and data driven decision-making. We applaud President Biden taking meaningful action,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife. “Our nation’s rich biodiversity supports every aspect of life and we can’t afford to let it disappear. These timely initiatives will provide important new tools to track the escalating biodiversity crisis and help inform policy decisions. We hope these announcements catalyze the adoption of a broader national biodiversity strategy for a comprehensive local, state and federal response to combat biodiversity loss.” 

The National Nature Assessment will use current science to paint a comprehensive picture of how our nation’s lands, waters and wildlife are changing over time. This can help us track the benefits of conservation actions, anticipate future change and more directly link changes to national social and economic priorities. 

Placing an explicit focus on monitoring the status and trends of our nation's biodiversity would meet one of the major goals of Rep. Joe Neguse’s (D-Colo.) House resolution (H. Res. 69) to establish a national biodiversity strategy. 

The Natural Capital Account will create a national, standardized system of environmental metrics for tracking and assessing our natural ecosystems’ contributions to the economy and to society as a whole. Biodiversity is important for its own sake and for the sake of our health and livelihoods. This effort will help to quantify the latter. 

 

Defenders of Wildlife is celebrating 75 years of protecting all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With a nationwide network of nearly 2.2 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit defenders.org/newsroom and follow us on Twitter @Defenders.

Media Contact

Communications Specialist
hhammer@defenders.org
(202) 772-0295

News

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Hawksbill sea turtle by NOAA/Caroline S. Rogers
Washington, DC

Defenders Statement on Biden Administration’s Final Endangered Species Act Regulations

The Biden administration today released final Endangered Species Act regulations that restore several core components of the bedrock conservation law that the previous administration sought to undercut. Defenders of Wildlife, which pursued legal challenges to the 2019 regulations, expressed both appreciation and concern with the newly released regulations.
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Students, parents and faculty from FernLeaf Community Charter School remove invasive plants and plant new growth along the bank of Cane Creek in Fletcher, N.C.
Fletcher, N.C.

Shade Your Stream Program Plants New Life Along North Carolina Creek

The banks of Cane Creek came alive Friday with hard work — much of it by small, determined hands. Students of the FernLeaf Community School