Padre Island National Seashore provides critical habitat for the Kemp's ridley sea turtle, the smallest and most endangered of all five species of sea turtles/NPS file

Support is growing across the country for President Biden to establish a national biodiversity strategy to prevent the loss of species and the collapse of ecosystems.

Worldwide, 1 million species are threatened with extinction, according to Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, World Wildlife Fund, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The United States lacks a comprehensive and coordinated approach to tackling the five main drivers of the biodiversity crisis: habitat loss, direct exploitation of species, climate change, pollution, and invasive species, the groups said in urging the Biden administration to establish a national biodiversity strategy.

More than 100 environmental organizations, leading scientists, and university students across the country back creation of such a strategy, according to those conservation organizations. The movement has also been gaining significant support in Congress, led by U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, a Colorado Democrat, and in several state legislatures, including in New Mexico, where a resolution calling for a national strategy sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart is advancing.

Last week 365 state legislators from 48 states and territories sent a letter to Biden urging him to establish a national biodiversity strategy. 

“The foundation of nature and life itself is crumbling rapidly. The Biden administration can and must take bold and unprecedented action to combat the biodiversity crisis,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife. “The message is clear, from federal, state and NGO leaders. The United States needs a national biodiversity strategy. We thank these policymakers for demonstrating the leadership with the urgency needed to address this problem.”  

"States are sending a powerful message that it's time the United States took a national approach to protect biodiversity," said Jeff Mauk, executive director of the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. "With legislators from 48 states and territories, the need for a national biodiversity strategy is clear. States are taking the lead with innovative legislation to safeguard biodiversity. But biodiversity doesn't recognize state borders; this problem needs a national unified solution."

Current Biden administration initiatives, like 30X30 and the National Nature Assessment, while important building blocks, fall short of the comprehensive policy approach that is needed, according to these groups.  

“Biodiversity refers to every living thing on Earth and protecting this mosaic of life helps preserve Colorado as we know it,” said Colorado State Representative Alex Valdez. 

The letter builds on the efforts of 50 members of the House of Representatives, including members of the House Appropriations Committee for the Interior and the Environment, the Natural Resources Committee and a growing bipartisan list of others calling for a national biodiversity strategy and supporting Rep. Neguse’s H.Res. 69.