Conservation of Endangered Species Essay

Humans have contributed to a higher rate of species extinction today for several reasons. Those reasons include housing limitations, overfishing, worsening climate change, pollution, and increasing the number of invasive species worldwide (Gramling, 2019). Humans have transformed 75 percent of land on Earth into urban areas, leaving the rest for all species. Over time wetlands were lost and so did 32 percent of forest areas across the planet preindustrial times. The production of food crops increased, agricultural lands expanded, palm oil plantations enlarged, and farm lands expanded into forest areas. Higher rates of species extinction also occurred in the oceans too where the main threat is overexploitation. Fishing increased over time leading to harvesting about 33 percent of the ocean’s fish at unmanageable levels. Dolphins and loggerhead turtles suffer when they are accidently trapped during fishing events.

According to Gramling (2019), “Land-use changes are also tied to climate change: Land clearing, crop production and the use of fertilizers currently account for about 25 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions” which warms up the world’s ocean waters. The increase in temperature places stress on the species in the water, damaging the populations long-term.

Plastic Pollution by humans has affected at least 267 species in the ocean. Plastics and microplastics affected 43 percent of ocean mammals. Pollution such as untreated urban and rural waste, mining and agricultural waste, and oil spills contributed to the suffering of the species living in the sea (Gramling, 2019). Due to the global trade and frequent travelling, humans introduced invasive species to many helpless locations worldwide. Those invaders compete with the native species for survival which can cause the elimination of native animals.

Canada's Species At Risk Act (SARA), and the Manitoba Endangered Species and Ecosystems Act (MESEA) support biodiversity conservation because out of the ten bird species that are located in the region; five of these species are protected under the MESEA or SARA. According to Manitoba Infrastructure (2017), The Canada warbler (Cardellina canadensis), common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) and olive-sided flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) are all listed as Threatened under both SARA and MESEA, whereas peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) are listed as Special Concern under SARA and Endangered and Threatened under MESEA. While not protected provincially under MESEA or federally under SARA the rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) and yellow rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) are both listed as Special Concern under SARA (Manitoba Infrastructure, 2017). Both of those acts support biodiversity conservation because certain birds that are under those acts are legally protected provincially and/or federally. The purpose of SARA is to prevent any wildlife species in Canada from disappearing.

Species of conservation include the species protected under MESEA and SARA. The MESEA was passed in Manitoba to protect and increase the survival of threatened and endangered species in Manitoba. This act raised awareness in Manitoba and introduced surviving species that are endangered and extinct. The federal act, SARA, was passed to protect wildlife species at risk in Canada. According to Manitoba Infrastructure (2017), within the Act, COSEWIC was established as an independent body of experts responsible for identifying and assessing wildlife species considered at risk. Animals that were ruled in COSEWIC may be qualified in the future for legal protection and recovery under SARA. All species are professionally evaluated for further ranking based on the global status, national status, and provincial status as a consistent process used by all Conservation Data Centers and Natural Heritage Programs. The ranking is used to determine protection and data collection priorities, assigned a numeric rank from 1 (very rare) to 5 (demonstrably secure) (Manitoba Infrastructure, 2017). This procedure is very important to protect endangered species based on their rate globally or in Manitoba.

SARA and MESEA strongly supports the safety and importance of our nation’s biodiversity and worldwide. Species at Risk Act protects species that may be affected by construction activities. According to the Manitoba Infrastructure (2017), those doings could affect several protected birds and their habitat and therefore a permit may be required under the Species at Risk Act. Animals have come and gone since life has begun on Earth and many of them have been strongly affected by the actions of humans. The act was enforced to protect and ensure survival of endangered and threatened species, introduce extirpated species, and into the province to designate species as Endangered, Threatened, Extinct or Extirpated species. The act prevents any human activity that would impact negatively on the listed species. It also prevents any type of human activities that could potentially damage or destroy habitats and their natural resources that keep them alive. It is not prohibited to have a possession of the species on the list unless granted by the minister for scientific research (Manitoba Infrastructure, 2017).

The peregrine falcon and polar bear are classified by each of the agencies in question 2 due to both organizations deciding to include them both under their acts. According to Manitoba Infrastructure (2017), a ‘Special Concern’ is a wildlife species that may become a threatened or an endangered species because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats, a Threatened is a wildlife species that is likely to become endangered if nothing is done to reverse the factors leading to its extirpation or extinction, and Endangered is a wildlife species facing imminent extirpation or extinction.

Many birds that I covered in question 2 were protected by both acts due to being listed as Threatened under both SARA and MESEA. However peregrine falcons are listed as Special Concern under SARA and Threatened and Endangered under MESEA. Polar bears are listed as Special Concern under SARA and Threatened under MESEA. Both animals are listed as Special Concern under the federal act because it is used for species that may become threatened or endangered due natural characteristics and human threats. Once the province analyzed the federal decision, both the peregrine falcon and polar bear were listed as Threatened and/or Endangered after further investigation.

They classified them based on the global status, national status, and provincial status as a consistent process used by all Conservation Data Centers and Natural Heritage Programs. This method helped them analyze the status of the animal on every scale possible because every classification is different. This in itself would benefit species conservation because humans would be aware of which species are a special concern, threatened, or endangered. This important information would help protect wild species and their habitats in order to prevent species from going extinct in the future.

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Mountain Gorillas are found at mountainous forests in two main areas in Africa. A bit more than half of them live in in the Virunga Mountains, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. The rest of the gorillas live in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park located in Uganda (Huijbregts, 2014). Their habitat requirements are forests and mountains. Virunga has a higher elevation, cooler temperatures and a lower diversity of tree species. Bwindi has a higher diversity of tree species, and the gorillas there build tree nests more often and eat more species of fruit (Huijbregts, 2014).

Their classification status was “Critically Endangered” in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. According to Robbins (2010), The International Union for the Conservation of Nature which is in charge of setting conservation status of species, changed their status from 'critically endangered' to 'endangered' in 2008 as their numbers improved. The locals were told by Scientists that things were getting better but could quickly slip back into being critically endangered due natural characteristics and human threats. Mountain Gorillas live on lands that have come across human violence which caused habitat loss due to agriculture, illegal mining, and forest destruction for charcoal production which have degraded their forests. Climate change has been affecting their higher elevation areas where they adapt to warmer temperatures and little forest remaining (Robbins, 2010).

The stakeholders are people who are concerned or interested in something, the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in this case. The stakeholders consist of two main groups, the government and the people of Batwa pygmy (Buhanga & Kapere, 2013). Both groups are highly worried and concerned for the growth and security of the National park. This park forms a major part of the Albertine Rift ecosystem and is known for its Pleistocene refuge features that make it an extremely high biodiversity spot (Buhanga & Kapere, 2013). BINP has been well-kept for its excellent biodiversity, such as spreading awareness and protecting the park’s critically endangered Mountain Gorilla and its fragile ecosystem that is also an important water catchment area that benefits the locals, national, and worldwide.

The development of an ecosystem management plan included the following: creation of a living laboratory for researching and monitoring, a biodiversity hotspot, water catchment area, various animals and plants, safe living area for endangered species such as Mountain Gorillas, beautiful scenic spots, ecosystem services such as climate stabilization and being a carbon sink, cultural traditional areas in the forest, and conservation of the endemic species of the Albertine Rift. (Buhanga & Kapere, 2013). This plan covers several different programs that focus on solving park related issues by the Resource Conservation and Management to protect the honor of the park, research and environmental monitoring by the Research and Monitoring program, reduction of conflicts with communities by the Community Conservation program, logistical and administrative requirements by the Park Operations, management actions of park border crossing by the Regional Collaboration, and ensuring the financial fund required to implement the plan by the Business Plan (Buhanga & Kapere, 2013).

Bwindi National Park is located in southeastern Uganda and is home to various species. It has earned the title of UNESCO world heritage site and is owned by Uganda Wildlife Authority. The second step of the Ecosystem Approach is to solve problems in two steps; identify the problem(s) and split the problem(s) into multiple parts to solve it easily (Unit, 2009).

The management objectives for Bwindi National Park were developed initially in 1995 for a period of five years as the Global Environment Facility project (Buhanga & Kapere, 2013). The park management established the Bwindi Magahinga Conservation Trust and created a financial program. The development of local communities was getting promoted and an increase in community welfare based on the objectives.

Food Web - Primary Producers, Competitors and Predators was included in the decision-making process because of the forest’s strength, protection of endangered species and planted trees, controlled number of local visiting to avoid exploitation of resources, and outstanding research, monitoring, and management (Buhanga & Kapere, 2013).

Human Resource Development - forestry, hunting, ecotourism was also included in the decision-making process because of the work with the locals to ensure they are participating, development of their communities, improvement of agricultural practices, and ecotourism that involves the gorillas as the main attraction for tourists in the park (Buhanga & Kapere, 2013). The owners of the park and the closest resorts and hotels had a stable flow of tourist and good revenue collection over the years. There are attractions such as hiking through the forest, a waterfall, and watch various species in their natural habitat.

The management objectives evolved for Mountain Gorillas were various threats such as cross-transmission of disease from humans as a result of tourism activities, habitat loss due to human activity or global warming, and illegal hunting (Buhanga & Kapere, 2013). They now attempt to ensure the viability of mountain gorillas into the future by protecting them from outsiders, researching and monitoring them constantly, increase plantation in the park, and put them in captive to increase their population (Buhanga & Kapere, 2013). The Bwindi National Park is famous for a successful Gorilla conservation due to all the planning and the help of the government resulting in having almost half Gorilla population of the world.