Like the domestic listing side of the Ecological Services Program, foreign species classification involves determining the status of foreign species and whether they should be added to the federal list of threatened and endangered wildlife and plants and receive protections provided by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. It also involves assessing foreign species already listed as threatened or endangered to determine whether they should be reclassified from threatened to endangered, reclassified from endangered to threatened, or removed from the list (delisted).
Why List Foreign Species?
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires the Service to list species as endangered or threatened regardless of which country the species lives in. Benefits to the species include prohibitions on certain activities including import, export, take, commercial activity, interstate commerce, and foreign commerce. By regulating activities, the United States ensures that people under the jurisdiction of the United States do not contribute to the further decline of listed species. Although the ESA's prohibitions regarding listed species apply only to people subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, the ESA can generate conservation benefits such as increased awareness of listed species, research efforts to address conservation needs, or funding for in-situ conservation of the species in its range countries. The ESA also provides for limited financial assistance to develop and manage programs to conserve listed species in foreign countries, encourages conservation programs for such species, and allows for assistance for programs, such as personnel and training.
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