Wildlife Conservation Issue Analysis
Introduction to Problem
There are over 7,200 endangered animals roaming the globe today (“Endangered Species”). This is not even counting the number of plant species endangered and doesn’t begin to consider the number of species that are currently threatened and steadily declining in number. This becomes a very serious issue when one considers what the loss of these species can bring. Although they will not all disappear at once, one by one, they will slowly fade (Kareiva). This creates a very high risk for several issues this document will explore.
The problem is one that begins with humans; and it can end there as well. The majority of the endangered species become this way because of how humans are dramatically changing the ecosystem and balance of the planet. Humans are also the species that need these animals to survive the most and the ones that are most at fault. If all 7,200 species became extinct at a rapid rate, it is humans that would feel the great repercussions. The five main reasons that this has become such an issue are: destruction of animal’s habitat, introduction of foreign species into animal’s habitat, illegal poaching and trapping pollution and global warming, disease brought on by humans (“Utah Education Network,” “Endangered Species”). If these issues are not addressed with serious concern, the results will be seen. Medication to cure disease, air and water quality, and human survival will all be at risk. While there are many suggestions for a solution, lack of knowledge from the public, lack of cooperation by people, and lack of direct effect, greatly hinder the ability of people to react to this problem. While this is not an immediate risk, it is a risk that can be prevented if acted upon now.
Effect on Stakeholders
Within an ecosystem, there are multiple species. The survival of one species is strongly dependent on the survival of all other species within that same ecosystem. Therefore, the risk that causes all humans to become stakeholders in the issue of wildlife conservation is biodiversity. Many think that since most endangered species are in Africa and South America that these are the two areas of concern for biodiversity, however, forty-seven of the fifty states in America have endangered species on the list; the number of endangered species in the United States is now about 500 (Kurpis). This means that biodiversity is becoming an issue for every part of the world, not just where the endangered species rates are the highest.
A great example of the risks with the lack of biodiversity can be illustrated by the state of undersea kelp. In the early 19th and 20th centuries, sea otters off the pacific coast of America were hunted to near extinction. This, in turn, caused the sea urchin population to rise dramatically because their main predator, the sea otter, was no longer much of a threat. The sea urchins, then, consumed much more kelp than usual, and caused a dramatic drop in the amount of kelp in the ocean, making the once fruitful seaweed to become almost nonexistent in this region (“Endangered Species”). Biodiversity is important for all parties in an ecosystem to thrive.
Food, clean water, healthy air, and fertile soil are some of the main things biodiversity creates throughout the environment. This greatly affects the way humans live on a day-to-day basis. Medicines would also be at risk if this diversity were lost since over 40% of modern medicines are from a plant or animal species. Most people, however, do not realize what could be lost with the loss of these species (“Endangered Species”). They think only that they are losing a creature on the planet and are unaware of the effects it may have on their daily lives. It is not that the stakeholders don’t care about the issue, it seems, rather, that they don’t realize the effects this may have.
Risk Communication Audience
The main audience that will be targeted in the risk communication media would be the young citizens of the United States, specifically students in high school and college. These people are of particular concern because while they may not know it, they are prime stakeholders in the effort of wildlife conservation. If the endangered species begin to slowly die off, it will eventually be their generation that suffers in the future. The public is very unknowledgeable on the effects that the loss of the many endangered species would have on them, making them simply ignorant of what could happen. They are also a great help to the environment because they have the greatest chance of reversing the effects that they are leaving on the environment.
Most of the risk communication efforts focused on this topic have been addressed to places like the United Nations or the government of various countries to try and instill a worldwide effort to preserve the habitat of many endangered species or pass acts and laws to protect these animals (“History of Species Protection”). While these efforts have been proven helpful at times, for the most part, the acts and laws of protection are already in place, the problem becomes the enforcement. This enforcement costs money, which is what most if these efforts don’t have. While there are hundreds of causes to donate money to protect endangered species, people think that the causes are only simply saving a species that they don’t want to become extinct, not truly saving themselves in the long-run (“The Human Footprint”). These causes fail to tell the audience how they will be affected by this loss, making the audience much less likely to donate their money. People are more likely to help a cause if they feel they will be directly affected by it. This is what my risk communication effort will attempt to do.
The United States citizen is of prime concern because they are considered the largest population that controls most of the world’s wealth. Their government is also one with elected officials that still revise the current Endangered Species Act to update information and species that are in danger. One of the setbacks to this audience could be, however, that many Americans hate to be told what to do, especially when it comes to their environment. This means that the risk communication effort would have to focus on how these Americans could greatly help the cause and not how they could have possibly caused the problem.
Risk over Time
One of the main constraints in getting an audience interested in this problem is the factor of time. While this risk is not of immediate concern to the people, humans are losing valuable time in trying to reverse the effects the have left on the planet. 7,200 creatures are endangered, but they are not extinct yet. There is also a large problem with what the audience would consider endangered, people want a concrete number to focus on.
Wildlife conservation efforts are not urgent, according to experts, there is time to reverse the problem, but in order to reverse the problem, and people need to act now. While the species that are currently endangered may not become extinct for five, ten, or fifteen years, in order to make the species have a healthy population, something needs to be done now (Czech). Audiences focus their attention to what is of immediate concern like war and terrorist attacks, not what may possibly affect their lives down the road. One can only hope, however, that if the issue is much more well-known and that the problem can be reversed, they would want to act as quickly as possible to rectify the situation.
Potential Solutions/Existing Efforts
There are many efforts currently in place to try and help the endangered species today. There have also been a handful of solutions offered to try and help the efforts of wildlife conservation, most of them being laws.
The best-known solution and effort that is currently in place is the revision of the Endangered Species Act. People in congress with the help of conservation biologists put most of these efforts forward. There are two main issues that can be revised in order to improve the act that is currently in place. First, the suggested revision would focus on the prevention of species from becoming endangered. The second part suggests that efforts should bring species further back from extinction than is currently done. The main solution here would eventually to develop hundreds of species recovery plans for animals in threatened areas hoping that if the focus is on a few hundred of species, the other species in the area that are endangered would be helped in the process and the species in danger of becoming endangered would be helped. One of the main problems of recovery plans like this is that the plans simply focus on getting the population of a species up and not on the thriving of their habitat (Miller). If an endangered animals’ habitat is ideal, they are more likely to reproduce and therefore have greater numbers in the future.
Another effort that is in place tries to help make a species’ habitat more ideal. Community-based Conservation has been in place for a few years now and hopes to make a large difference in the more rural areas. This is an effort that, when properly done, has seen success. The problem, however, is that where these attempts have been placed are now war-torn countries that have much bigger problems than the concern of endangered species (Hackel).
One of the most common efforts to protect and encourage global biodiversity is the Red List database. This database gives the status and threats of species throughout the world. This list is maintained partly by the government and party by other organizations that focus all of their time to wildlife conservation. This list can be accessed by anyone throughout the world, allowing all to see the animals that are currently at risk. This effort, however, focuses too much on the audience going and doing something on their own. The majority of people are not going to simply search for this without knowing about it. While the World Wildlife Fund does do some advertising, these advertisements focus on donations from those interested in the cause and do not bother to explain the consequences that can occur if left without help nor do they focus on how the problem was caused. The Red List itself can be very helpful when put together with knowledge. This knowledge, however, needs first to be given to the audience. The knowledge is only available to those who go searching for it. Issues such as wildlife conservation and biodiversity are not immediately available for audiences to learn about. Education needs to be more accessible in order to create a knowledge and understanding in those who are unaware and will eventually be affected.
Other efforts are in place by the United States government such as captive breeding and cloning, as well as agreements with other nations focusing on protection efforts, especially in government regulated areas (“Endangered Species”). It is the majority of citizens, though, that does not know the risk that could await their children in the future. If they only knew to act now, so much could be prevented.
My risk communication effort would focus on these children in order to get both their attention, and the attention of their parents. The solution would be one of education and would focus on a display that would be put in zoos, museums, and science centers across the country. This exhibit would give models and examples of animals that have become extinct and those that are endanger and would also give facts and statistics on what would be lost with the loss of these species. This effort would create an even larger audience, by making not only the children aware, but also their parents. Endangered species at risk can be saved.
Works Cited
Czech, Brian, Paul R. Krausman, A Dobson, J P. Rodriguez, W M. Roberts, and D S.
Wilcove. “Distribution and Causation of Species Endangerment in the United States.” Science ns 227 (1997): 1116-1117. J Stor. Hillman Library, Pittsburgh. 11 Feb. 2008. Keyword: endangered species.
“Endangered Species.” Encarta MSN. 2007. 6 Feb. 2008
<http://encarta.msn.com/text_761557586__0/Endangered_Species.html>.
Hackel, Jeffery D. “Community Conservation and the Furture of Africa’s Wildlife.” Conservation Biology 13 (1999): 726-734. J Stor. Hillman Library, Pittsburgh. 11 Feb. 2008. Keyword: wildlife conservation.
“History of Species Protection.” The Endangered Species Act. 2008. 6 Feb. 2008 <http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/3028/Endangered-Species-Act>.
Kareiva, Peter. “Ecological Theory and Endangered Species.” Ecology 75 (1994): 583. J Stor. Hillman Library, Pittsburgh. 11 Feb. 2008. Keyword: endangered species.
Kurpis, Lauren. “Facts About Endangered Species.” 2002. 6 Feb. 2008 <http://www.endangeredspecie.com/Interesting_Facts.htm>.
Miller, George. “Ecosystem Management.” Ecological Applications 6 (1996): 715-717. J Stor. Hillman Library, Pittsburgh. 11 Feb. 2008. Keyword: endangered species act.
“The Human Footprint.” Wildlife Conservation Society. 2008. 6 Feb. 2008
<http://www.wcs.org/humanfootprint>.
“Utah Education Network.” 2007. 6 Feb. 2008 <http://www.uen.org>.
