Fight the Biodiversity Crisis: Urge your senators to cosponsor S.Res. 494!

The iconic wildlife, plants and even entire landscapes that define our country are dwindling away, lost to the damage that humans are causing every day.

Now there’s a plan to change that. S.Res. 494 is a resolution in the Senate calling for the federal government to create an official National Biodiversity Strategy to protect our rich diversity of life for future generations.

You can help this resolution succeed: We need you to send a quick message to your senators asking them to cosponsor this plan to protect our nation’s natural legacy.

Sign today: Tell your senators to cosponsor S.Res. 494 , creating a national strategy to fight back against the biodiversity crisis!

Message

Dear Senator {contact_data~lastName},

I am writing to urge you to cosponsor S. Res.494, a resolution calling on the federal government to establish a National Biodiversity Strategy to protect biodiversity for current and future generations. This approach would articulate the nation’s commitment to a whole-of-government response to tackling species extinction and addressing the primary threats to biodiversity, nature’s benefit for people, and ultimately, humanity.

Our planet is facing an alarming and catastrophic biodiversity crisis, largely driven by human activities. Habitat destruction, overexploitation of wildlife, climate change, introduction of invasive species, and pollution are all threatening our planet’s ecosystems. Scientific studies have documented this devastating loss worldwide. The 2019 Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services assessment reports that one million species are at risk of extinction. Population sizes of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles have decreased by an average of 68%. Humans have severely altered three-fourths of the world’s lands and two-thirds of its marine environments. The 2023 World Economic Forum report states that biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse is the fourth fastest deteriorating risk to the global economy over the next decade in terms of severity.

The biodiversity crisis is not only a far-away problem: it is unfolding here and now in the U.S. In North America alone, nearly 3 billion birds have disappeared since 1970, and in 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed 21 species from the Endangered Species Act list due to extinction.

The loss of biodiversity presents a direct threat to the security, health, and well-being of people in the United States by reducing valuable ecosystem services like zoonotic disease buffering, water filtration, air purification, and pollination. Further, this loss disproportionately impacts communities of color, low-income and tribal communities.

While multiple federal agencies are already tasked with protecting and conserving biodiversity in the U.S., there is no coordinating policy to maximize these efforts or facilitate collaboration among them. A National Biodiversity Strategy would resolve this issue so we can more effectively address the five drivers of biodiversity loss and secure and restore critical ecosystem services.

One-hundred and ninety-three nations already have national biodiversity strategies. The U.S. should follow suit and help reestablish the nation as a global leader in biodiversity conservation. The Biden Administration is now developing the first ever National Nature Assessment which should enable the U.S. to better understand the leading causes of U.S. wildlife and ecosystem services losses. A National Biodiversity Strategy would build on the forthcoming National Nature Assessment and be the next step to elevate the national priority of the biodiversity crisis, promote a more coordinated and comprehensive response, and provide the Administration, Congress, state legislators and tribal governments with a roadmap for policy action that can be taken to stem the biodiversity crisis.

Our nation should take a more active role in tackling the biodiversity crisis which is playing out worldwide and right here in the U.S. As expressed in S. Res. 494, a National Biodiversity Strategy to protect our natural legacy, for today and generations to come, is a visionary and urgently needed response. It deserves your support.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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