November 25, 2019
On October 21, 2019, ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber delivered a congressional briefing funding needs to implement the Endangered Species Act 2019.
The congressional testimony title was “Solving the Biodiversity Crisis and Saving Endangered Species: The critical need for federal funding.” The event took place in the Longworth House Office Building in Washington D.C.
Gerber joined US Representative for Arizona's third congressional district Raúl M. Grijalva, US Representative for California second congressional district Jared Huffman, US Representative for Minnesota’s fourth congressional district Betty McCollum, Chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Sir Robert Watson and Director of the Center for Conservation Innovation of Defenders of Wildlife Jacob Malcom.
As one of the lead authors of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the IPBES, Gerber addressed some of the top recommendations to reverse the extinction trajectory anticipated for one million endangered species of plants and animals. A critical aspect of the recovery process is funding. As she explained, “Extinction has been avoided for over 95 percent of listed species, but recovering species from the brink of extinction requires adequate funding.”
As part of this call to action, Defenders of Wildlife submitted recommendations for edits for Renewing America’s Wildlife Act. They also published a letter titled “Solve the biodiversity crisis with funding” in Science inviting scientists to voice their support. Over 1,600 scientists signed up.