10 • Technologies To Maintain Biological Diversity 



Table 1-4.— Summary of Policy Issues for Congressional Action Related to Biological Diversity Maintenance 



Issue 



Finding 



Options 



Strengthen national commitment 



Increase ability to maintain 

 biological diversity 



Enhance knowledge base 

 Support international initiatives 



Address loss in developing 

 countries 



Adopt a comprehensive approach 

 to maintaining biological diversity 



Increase public awareness of 

 biological diversity issues 



Improve research, technology 

 development and application 



Fill gaps and inadequacies in 

 existing programs 



Improve data collection, 

 maintenance, and use 



Provide greater leadership in the 

 international arena 



Promote the exchange of genetic 

 resources 



Amend Foreign Assistance Act 



Enhance capability of the Agency 

 for International Development 



Establish alternative funding 

 sources for biological diversity 

 projects 



Establish a national biological diversity act 

 Prepare a national conservation strategy 

 Amend appropriate legislation of Federal 

 agencies 



Establish a national conservation education act 

 Amend the International Security and 

 Development Cooperation Act 



Direct National Science Foundation to establish 



a conservation biology program 

 Establish a national endowment for biological 



diversity 



Provide sufficient funding for existing 



maintenance programs 

 Improve link between onsite and offsite 



programs 

 Establish new programs to fill specific gaps in 



current efforts 



Establish a clearinghouse for biological data 

 Enhance existing natural heritage network of 

 conservation data centers 



Increase support of existing international 



programs 

 Continue oversight hearings of multilateral 



development banks' activities 



Examine U.S. options on international exchange 



of germplasm 

 Amend the Export Administration Act to affirm 



U.S. commitment to free exchange of 



germplasm 



Adopt broader definition of biological diversity 

 in Foreign Assistance Act 



Direct AID to adopt strategic approach to 



diversity conservation 

 Increase AID staffing of personnel with 



environmental training 



Create special account for natural resources 



and the environment 

 Apply more Public Law 480 funds to effort 



SOURCE; Office of Tecfinology Assessment, 1987. 



rowly defined to address the broad scope of 

 biological diversity concerns. Nor do the ad hoc 

 programs use coordination and cooperation to 

 build a systematic approach to tackle the issue. 

 State and private efforts fill some gaps in Fed- 

 eral programs, but they do not provide a com- 

 prehensive national commitment and thus leave 

 many aspects of the problem uncovered. 



Federal agencies, for example, coordinate the 

 onsite conservation activities mentioned spe- 

 cifically in Federal species protection laws, 

 such as those under the authority of the En- 

 dangered Species Act of 1973 (Public Law 93- 



205), but no formal institutional mechanism ex- 

 ists for the thousands of plant, animal, and 

 microbial species not listed as threatened or 

 endangered. Mandates for offsite conservation 

 are equally vague about which species they are 

 to consider. For example, the Research and 

 Marketing Act of 1946 is intended to "promote 

 the efficient production and utilization of prod- 

 ucts of the soil" (7 U.S.C.A. 427), but it is inter- 

 preted narrowly by the Agricultural Research 

 Service (ARS) to mean economic plant species 

 and varieties. Thus, little government attention 

 has been given to conserving the multitude of 

 wild plant species offsite. Even less attention 



