The Implications of International Protocols and Programs for State, Local, and Regional Programs

• Author: Robert B. McKinstry, Jr./Coreen Ripp/Emily Lisy
• Pages: 25-28

Part II

The Implications of International

Protocols and Programs for State,

Local, and Regional Programs

Conservation of biological diversity has long been the focus of interna-

tional treaty law.International treaties have regulated fisheries,1whal-

ing,2and other marine or migratory animals.3The 1973 Convention on Inter-

national Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora4sought to

address a variety of threats to threatened and endangered species of wildlife,

particularly those posed by poaching and international trade in those spe-

cies. Despite these international efforts, worldwide loss of species has con-

tinued at a rate at least three orders of magnitude greater than that seen in the

fossil record.5

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1. For example, both the International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic

Fisheries, Feb. 8, 1949, T.I.A.S. No. 2089, 157 U.N.T.S. 157, and the Interna-

tional Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean, May

9, 1952, 4 U.S.T. 380, 205 U.N.T.S. 80, were referenced by the U.S. Congress

in enacting the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §1531(a)(4). The 1958

Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resource of the High

Seas, Apr. 29, 1958, 17 U.S.T. 138, 559 U.N.T.S. 285, became effective in

1966, but has largely been superceded by the 1992 United Nations Convention

on the Law of the Sea, Dec. 10, 1992, 21 I.L.M. 1245, 1833 U.N.T.S. 3, avail-

able at http://www.un.org/law/ilc/texts/fishfra.htm (last visited May 25,

2005).

2. See International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, Dec. 2, 1946, 62

Stat. 1716, 61 U.N.T.S. 72, available at http://www.iwcoffice.org/commission/

convention.htm (last visited May 25, 2005).

3. See Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals, June 23, 1979, 19

I.L.M. 11, available at http://www.cms.int/documents/convtxt/cms_convtxt.

htm (last visited May 25, 2005); Inter-American Convention for the Protection

and Conservation of Sea Turtles, Dec. 1, 1996, 37 I.L.M. 1246, available at

http://www.seaturtle.org/iac (last visited May 25, 2005).

4. United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of

Wild Fauna and Flora, Mar. 3, 1973, 27 U.S.T. 1087, 993 U.N.T.S. 243, avail-

able at http://www.cites.org (last visited May 25, 2005).

5. See supra Chapter 2; see also Edward O. Wilson, The Future of Life 99

(Alfred A. Knopf 2002).