The Game of Conservation: International Treaties to Protect the World's Migratory Animals

Conclusion

Conclusion “Conser vation, ”฀a ld o฀l eopold฀once฀quipped,฀“is฀a฀bird฀that฀fliesfaster฀ than฀the฀shot฀we฀aim฀at฀it.”1 ฀Mobility฀was฀once฀one฀of฀the฀main฀advantages฀ that฀animals฀had฀over฀the฀humans฀who฀hunted฀them฀for฀food฀and฀profit,฀ and฀few฀animals฀were฀faster฀and฀more฀elusive฀than฀those฀that฀undertook฀long฀ migrations฀each฀year.฀ snares,฀traps,฀arrows,฀harpoons,฀stampedes,฀muskets ,฀and฀the฀like฀certainly฀took฀their฀toll,฀but฀the฀vast฀majority฀of฀species฀ were฀nimble฀enough฀to฀survive฀and฀reproduce,฀despite฀some฀glaring฀cases฀ of฀extinction฀over฀the฀centuries.฀For฀the฀past฀150฀years,฀however,฀animals฀ have฀found฀themselves฀staring฀down฀the฀barrel฀of฀the฀modern฀scientificindustrial ฀revolution.฀High-powered฀rifles can฀strike฀even฀the฀fastest฀a frican ฀mammals,฀just฀as฀double-barreled฀shotguns฀can฀devastate฀entire฀bird฀ flocks฀and฀grenade-tipped฀harpoons฀can฀wipe฀out฀entire฀whale฀herds.฀l and฀ usurpation฀for฀urban฀and฀agricultural฀development฀has฀often฀proved฀even฀ more฀deadly฀than฀the฀weaponry,฀especially฀for฀migratory฀species,฀which฀ depend฀on฀multiple฀habitats฀at฀various฀locations฀during฀different฀seasons฀ of฀the฀year฀for฀their฀survival.฀n othing฀seems฀to฀offer฀wildlife฀protection฀any฀ Conclusion฀|฀฀149 longer—not฀the฀dense฀forests฀and฀vast฀savannas฀of฀a frica,฀not฀the฀wideopen ฀prairies฀and฀remote฀regions฀of฀n orth฀a merica,฀not฀even฀the฀treacherous ฀and฀frigid฀polar฀waters฀of฀a ntarctica. ฀ d uring฀the฀first฀half฀of฀the฀twentieth฀century,฀animal฀conservation฀was฀ all฀but฀synonymous฀with฀game฀cropping,฀multilateral฀hunting฀regulations,฀ and฀nature฀parks.฀d iplomatic฀negotiations฀were฀largely฀in฀the฀hands฀of฀the฀ major฀industrial฀and฀colonial฀powers,฀which฀responded฀in฀ad฀hoc฀ways฀to฀ the฀problems฀that฀arose฀inside฀and฀outside฀their฀jurisdiction,฀be฀they฀the฀ overharvesting฀of฀ivory,฀horn,฀and฀skins฀(in฀a frica);฀the฀wanton฀destructiveness ฀of฀the฀meatpacking฀and฀millinery฀industries฀(in฀n orth฀a merica);฀ or฀the฀exterminationist฀impulses฀of฀the฀whaling฀business฀(in฀a ntarctica).฀ t reaties฀emerged฀in฀piecemeal฀fashion฀after฀one฀or฀more฀governments฀realized ฀that฀national฀regulations฀did฀not฀suffice,฀and฀the฀agreements฀tended฀ to฀remain฀regional฀in฀scope,฀even฀if฀many฀conservationists฀dreamed฀of฀expanding ฀their฀geographic฀domains฀at฀some฀point฀in฀the฀future. ฀ t hings฀began฀to฀change฀after฀World฀War฀ii,฀when฀the฀United฀n ations฀ and฀other฀international฀organizations฀assumed฀the฀task฀of฀nature฀protection ฀worldwide.฀t he฀new฀treaties฀have฀tended฀to฀be฀global฀in฀scope฀and฀ to฀codify฀general฀rules฀of฀conduct฀for฀all฀countries฀to฀follow฀regardless฀of฀ their฀geographic฀circumstances฀and฀economic฀positions.฀t he฀new฀treaties฀ also฀have฀been฀far฀more฀likely฀to฀focus฀on฀the฀protection฀and฀restoration฀of฀ entire฀ecosystems฀rather฀than฀on฀the฀preservation฀of฀certain฀game฀species฀ and฀favorite฀hunting฀grounds.฀t hree฀treaties฀in฀particular฀acted฀as฀harbingers ฀of฀a฀new฀approach:฀the฀1971฀Convention฀on฀Wetlands฀of฀international฀ importance฀especially฀as฀Waterfowl฀Habitat,฀signed฀in฀r amsar,฀iran฀(the฀ r amsar฀Convention),฀the฀first฀treaty฀to฀focus฀above฀all฀on฀wetland฀restoration ฀around฀the฀globe฀(even฀if฀the฀term฀waterfowl฀in฀its฀title฀was฀a฀throwback ฀to฀the฀old฀hunting฀treaties);฀the฀1973฀Convention฀on฀international฀ t rade฀in฀endangered฀species฀(Cites ),฀signed฀in฀Washington,฀d C,฀the฀first฀ treaty฀designed฀to฀rein฀in฀the฀global฀trade฀in฀live฀animals฀and฀animal฀parts;฀ and฀the฀1979฀Convention฀on฀the฀Conservation฀of฀Migratory฀species฀of฀Wild฀ a nimals,฀signed฀in฀Bonn฀(the฀Bonn฀Convention),฀the฀first฀treaty฀devoted฀ solely฀to฀the฀protection฀of฀migratory฀animals฀and฀their฀habitats฀worldwide. ฀ t he฀old฀approach฀to฀animal฀protection฀did฀not,฀of฀course,฀disappear฀ overnight.฀t he฀1968฀a frican฀Convention฀largely฀reiterated฀the฀1933฀l ondon ฀Convention,฀even฀if฀it฀also฀extended฀a฀protective฀net฀to฀endangered฀ native฀flora฀(an฀area฀of฀conservation฀that฀was฀almost฀wholly฀absent฀from฀ the฀earlier฀discussions,฀since฀plants฀were฀nonmigratory฀and฀not฀a฀target฀ for฀hunters).฀t he฀United฀states,฀meanwhile,฀continued฀to฀favor฀a฀bilateral฀ 150฀฀|฀The฀Game฀of฀Conservation approach฀to฀bird฀protection฀well฀into฀the฀1970s,฀signing฀separate฀treaties ฀with฀Japan฀(1972)฀and฀the฀soviet฀Union฀(1976)฀that฀were฀remarkably฀ similar฀to฀the฀ones฀signed฀earlier฀with฀Canada฀and฀Mexico.฀l ikewise,฀the฀ iWC฀ has฀ remained฀ the฀ most฀ important฀ agency฀ overseeing฀ the฀ world’s฀ whale฀stocks,฀even฀though฀most฀whaling฀enterprises฀went฀belly฀up฀decades฀ ago฀for฀lack฀of฀cetaceans฀to฀hunt.฀t he฀new฀approach฀to฀environmental฀ diplomacy฀did฀not฀emerge฀immediately.฀t he฀first฀major฀conference฀devoted ฀solely...