Ch. 1— Summary and Options for Congress • 15 



1980 with Title III, Section 316, to further the 

 goals of Section 103.^ 



This amendment provides NGOs with Biden- 

 Pell matching grants to support programs that 

 educate U.S. citizens about the Hnks between 

 American progress and progress in develop- 

 ing countries. The Agency for International De- 

 velopment (AID] has used these grants mainly 

 to promote American understanding of the 

 problems faced by farmers in developing coun- 

 tries and how resolution of those problems ben- 

 efits Americans. Recently, use of the grants has 

 been broadened to include public education on 

 international environmental issues. Congress 

 could encourage this action by expressing its 

 approval during oversight hearings or by fur- 

 ther amending the International Security and 

 Development Cooperation Act specifically to 

 authorize support for education programs on 

 environmental issues, especially on biological 

 diversity. 



Increase the Nation's Ability To 

 Maintain Biological Diversity 



The ability to maintain biological diversity 

 depends on the availability of applicable tech- 

 nologies that are useful and affordable and on 

 programs designed to apply these technologies 

 to clearly identified needs. Thus, increasing the 

 Nation's ability to maintain diversity will re- 

 quire an improved system for identifying needs 

 and for developing or adapting technologies 

 and programs to address these needs. 



At present, technologies and programs are 

 not sufficient to prevent further erosion of bio- 

 logical resources. The problem of diversity loss 

 has been recognized relatively recendy, and sci- 

 entists have just begun to focus attention on 



=Sec. 103, entitled "Agriculture. Rural Development and Nu- 

 trition," recognizes that the majority of people in developing 

 countries live in rural areas and close to subsistence. It author- 

 izes the President to furnish assistance to alleviate hunger and 

 malnutrition, enhance the capacity of rural people, and to help 

 create productive on- and off-farm employment. Sec. 316 en- 

 courages private and voluntary organizations to facilitate vifide- 

 spread public discussion, analysis, and review of the issues of 

 world hunger. It especially calls for increased public awareness 

 of the political, economic, technical, and social factors affect- 

 ing hunger and poverty. 



it. Progress is slow partly because basic re- 

 search is poorly funded, and institutions are 

 not organized to follow-up basic research with 

 synthesis of results, technology development, 

 and technology transfer. The last reason im- 

 plies a need for goal-oriented research. 



All too often, the Nation's current research 

 programs related to biological diversity do not 

 have a goal-oriented approach. Institutional re- 

 ward systems and prestige factors deter many 

 scientists from engaging in work that translates 

 basic science into practical tools. Several Fed- 

 eral agencies support basic biology and ecol- 

 ogy research, but too little support exists for 

 synthesis of the research into technologies. 



Improved links between research and man- 

 agement systems, that is, technology transfer, 

 can increase efficiency, effectiveness, and abil- 

 ity for maintaining diversity. For example, un- 

 derstanding how to maintain and propagate 

 wild endangered species has been preceded by 

 efforts to maintain domestic species. Perhaps 

 the most dramatic linkage is embryo transfer 

 technology developed for livestock now being 

 adapted for endangered wildlife. Similarly, 

 plant storage technologies developed for agri- 

 cultural varieties, such as cryogenics and tis- 

 sue culture, may be valuable tools for maintain- 

 ing rare or threatened wild plant species, even 

 if only as backup collections. 



FINDING 3: Current technologies are insuffi- 

 cient to prevent further erosion of biological 

 resources. Thus, increasing the Nation's abil- 

 ity to maintain biological diversity will re- 

 quire acceleration of basic research as well 

 as research in development and implemen- 

 tation of resource management technologies. 



Most resource management technologies 

 were developed to meet narrow needs. Onsite 

 technologies are generally directed toward a 

 particular population or species, and offsite 

 technologies are generally directed toward 

 organisms of economic importance. This re- 

 stricted focus of basic research and technol- 

 ogy development is not sufficient to meet the 

 broad goal of maintaining diversity, given the 

 number of species involved and the time and 

 funds available. 



