Success stories of the US Endangered Species Act

April 16, 2013

An interesting report from the USA shows how the Endangered Species Act is helping to recover species.

Although critics say only 1% of the species under its protection have recovered and been delisted, the proponents argue that 90% of species are recovering at the rate specified by their federal recovery plan. And many species have not just been on the list long enough to have a detailed expectation of recovery.

Examples of species that have benefitted most from the act include the Aleutian Canada goose, California least tern, black-footed ferret, American crocodile, whooping crane, gray wolf and shortnose sturgeon.

The Endangered Species Act was signed in 1973 by president Richard Nixon and is considered to be North America’s strongest environmental law. The act aims to prevent the extinction of imperiled species and to recover their populations.

More info at http://www.esasuccess.org/

Read the report (also available as pdf).

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