Warner Pacific
College
August 11, 2014
Environmental
Regulation and Conservation of Wildlife
Enacting
environmental policy through environmental regulation is an imperative exploit
to protect biodiversity, implement conservation and preservation and uphold ethical
obligations. “The need to regulate international trade in wildlife has been
seen as an important component of biodiversity policy and practice for over 25
years, with regulations operating at various levels” (Oldfield, 2003, p. xvii).
In this paper, I will discuss my views on the role of environmental regulation
in the conservation of wildlife.
“Biodiversity
at all levels is being lost to human impact, most irretrievably in the
extinction of species” (Withgott & Laposata, 2014, p. 281). As human
population grows and by our increasing individual consumption of resources, the
extirpation (Withgott & Laposata, 2014) of wildlife species continues at
accelerated rates. Through habitat loss, overharvesting and climate change
(Withgott & Laposata, 2014) species populations are declining rapidly.
Regulation of human impact is crucial for biodiversity to flourish. To combat
these negative factors governments have “passed laws, signed treaties, and
strengthened anti-poaching efforts” (p. 285).
Laws,
treaties and acts have been implemented to help aid in conserving and
protecting of wildlife. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is the most well-known and has the
most members among the conservation agreements. CITES is an international
agreement adhered to by countries voluntarily. CITES was formed because the
trade in wildlife crosses borders between countries and in efforts to regulate
it, requires international cooperation (CITES, 2014). “Its aim is to ensure
that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not
threaten their survival” (CITES, 2014). The implementation of such efforts has
“helped African nations gain economic benefits from ecotourism with their
wildlife preserves” (Withgott & Laposata, 2014, p. 297).
As the
government tackles the issue through the laws and system, the corrupt and illicit
trade of animals is underway and thriving. Poaching is a highly political and
detrimental crime focused on the population of African Elephants. The ivory
tusks of an elephant have become a high commodity in the black market and the
illegal distribution and selling are central contributors to transnational
organized crime. Such crime drives and is facilitated by the pervasive erosion
of governance structures through corruption and the breakdown in the rule of
law (WWF, 2014). Regulations can be disadvantageous in this situation because
the rules and laws exacerbate the value of the ivory and create an illicit
profitable commodity for the criminally motivated.
Added to
the regulatory obligations, humans have an ethical obligation to protect and
conserve our wildlife. As the most dominant and powerful species on the planet,
humans have an obligation to view our wildlife as a distinct and important
aspect of resource and value. As worldviews change, so must our view of
conservation and value of our wildlife to reflect the notion that other species
have rights and are biologically important to our planet and our existence. As
the need for regulatory action persists and widens, the ethical views of
society will focus on ecofriendly measures and shape conservation policies. ”The management and use of wild animals
generates ethical disagreements and dilemmas in which human needs, preferences,
and interests, concern for individual animal welfare, and the value of
biodiversity, ecosystems, and wild nature are part of the discussion. The way
in which these different values are prioritized will determine policy” (Gamborg
et al., 2012).
Environmental regulation is crucial
to conserving and protecting the world’s wildlife. But more critical is the upholding
of these regulations by humans. Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, conservationist and
owner of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust explains it best:
Saving wildlife and wilderness is the responsibility of all thinking
people. Greed and personal gain must not be permitted to decimate, despoil and
destroy the earth’s irreplaceable treasure for its existence is essential to
the human spirit and the well-being of the earth as a whole. All life has just
one home — the earth — and we as the dominant species must take care of it.
–Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, Kenyan author and conservationist
References
CITES [website]
(2014). What is CITES?. Retrieved from: http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/what.php. August 6, 2014
Gamborg, C., Palmer, C. & Sandoe, P. (2012) Ethics of Wildlife Management and
Conservation: What Should We Try to
Protect? Nature Education Knowledge 3(10):8 Retrieved from: http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/ethics-of-wildlife-management-and- conservation-what-80060473. August 6, 2014
Oldfield, S. (Ed.).
(2003). The trade in wildlife: Regulation
for conservation. Sterling, Virginia: Earthscan.
ISBN: 1 85383 954 X
Withgott, J., & Laposata, M. (2014). Environment: the science behind the stories
(5th Ed.). New York, NY.
Pearson Benjamin Cummings.
WWF [website]. African elephants. Retrieved from: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/elephants/african_elephants/ August
6, 2014
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