WCS Annual Report 2012 - Wildlife Conservation Society

[ Below ] WCS staff
and supporters at the
ribbon-cutting for our new
Animal Ambassador and
quarantine buildings at
the Bronx Zoo's C.V.
Starr Science Campus.
[ right ] In November, WCS
President and CEO Cristían
Samper (back row, left)
joined Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton to
highlight the growing illegal
trade in wildlife.
In April, the BLM released its draft environmental
impact statement (EIS) and Integrated
Activity Plan (IAP) for the entire NPR-A. WCS
responded in support of a balanced management
regime that adequately protects the wildlife
of the NPR-A while allowing for expanded
oil and gas production. To amplify WCS’s voice,
we issued an online alert that spurred more
than 40,000 WCS activists to contact BLM
and express support for the balanced alternative.
To showcase WCS’s scientific findings in the
region and explain our recommendation of a
balanced approach between conservation and
responsible development, we held a Congressional
briefing, featuring Dr. Zack and WCS
North America Program conservationist Dr. Joe
Liebezeit. WCS repeated this message in news
stories placed in regional and environmental
media, along with an op-ed piece authored by
Dr. Zack. WCS submitted written comments to
the BLM in June.
On August 13, the Secretary of the Interior,
Ken Salazar, announced the basic elements to be
reflected in the final plan. Based on information
available at that time, the BLM’s plan represented
a good balance between wildlife conservation
and energy development. On August 14, WCS
released a statement from Dr. Cristián Samper,
WCS President and CEO, applauding Secretary
Salazar’s announcement and expressing tentative
support. Since then, BLM released the final plan in
December. WCS applauded its continued balance
between conservation and development needs.
Protecting Sharks Locally and Globally
Millions of sharks are killed around the globe
each year through a practice known as shark
finning, whereby the sharks’ fins are removed
and their carcasses discarded. The high demand
for fins for use in shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy,
is driving declines in shark populations
worldwide. Despite this threat, the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES), the 175-member treaty that regulates
international trade of animal and plant species,
currently protects a mere handful of sharks and rays.
Oceans 5 donor coalition recently awarded
WCS a significant grant to run a global campaign
to list several species of sharks and rays
for protection under CITES. In September,
WCS and a coalition of 35 partners raised
awareness of the threat to sharks and rays at
the 2012 IUCN World Conservation Congress
in Jeju, South Korea. The coalition called for
measures to improve fisheries management and
conserve sharks and rays, and worked to bolster
government and NGO support for increased
shark and ray listings at the March 2013 CITES
Conference of Parties.
In New York State, WCS is using the shark
expertise of its New York Seascape program
director Dr. Merry Camhi to inform a legislative
campaign to ban the sale, trade and possession
of shark fins within the state. Although shark
finning is already illegal in federal waters and
most state waters (including New York’s), the
continued legal trade of fins helps to drive shark
mortality locally and globally. Efforts to enact a
ban come on the heels of similar laws in Hawaii,
California, Washington and Oregon. WCS is
poised to work with legislative supporters to pass
strong legislation next year that will serve as a
model for other states and build momentum for
a future federal trade ban on shark fins.
Wildlife Trafficking
WCS has long contended that wildlife poaching
and the illegal harvesting of timber are the
work of organized crime syndicates, which use
the proceeds of these activities to finance the
drug trade, terrorism and other illicit actions.
WCS and other global conservation organizations
have been working to educate and
inform the U.S. State Department about the
link between wildlife trafficking and national
security. Those efforts led Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton to declare that the
transnational illegal trade in wildlife and timber
products should be considered a national
security issue. The State Department followed
through with a declaration of December 4, 2012
as Wildlife Conservation Day, during which
thousands of people around the world pledged
to protect and respect wildlife by not purchasing
products made from endangered species and
sharing the wildlife pledge with their networks.
WCS participated in events at different U.S.