AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20523

1986

JAN 19 1986

The Honorable John F. Seiberling

House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20525

Dear Congressman Seiberling:

Enclosed are our responses to the ten follow-up questions from
the oversight hearing on international assistance programs,
held October 8 by the Subcommittee on Public Lands, which were
received with your letter to the Agency dated November 13, 1985.
Also enclosed are two of the three information items which you
requested. We are still preparing the Action Plan on
Conserving Biological Diversity and will get it to you as soon
as it is completed. As you can see, the Agency is progressing
in its plans to manage tropical forests and conserve biological
resources in developing countries.

Pizz

1.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

QUESTION:

With the passage of the International Environmental Protection Act of 1983, Congress directed the Administrator of A.I.D. to take full advantage of the expertise of the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service in implementing the specific programs to protect and conserve biological diversity authorized by Section 119 of PL. 98-164. Please identify the implementation actions that A.I.D. has taken to date.

ANSWER:

In response to Sec. 119 of the Foreign Assistance Act, A.I.D. took the lead in establishing an Interagency Task Force charged with reviewing the case for conserving biological diversity; surveying current activities and programs of U.S. Government agencies affecting biological diversity in developing countries; and formulating a comprehensive international biological diversity conservation strategy with specific recommendations for

action.

The result of this effort, the U.S. Strategy on the Conservation of Biological Diversity: An Interagency Task Force Report to Congress (hereafter called the Strategy) was presented to Congress in February of 1985.

Since publication of the Strategy, A.I.D. has been

preparing an Agency-wide Action Plan to begin
implementation of Strategy recommendations involving
A.I.D. programs. A preliminary plan is nearing

completion and will be sent to USAID Missions for their
review and comment. It will also serve as a focus for

discussions with the Interagency Task Force on Biological Diversity to identify how U.S. Government agencies can better integrate and coordinate their activities and programs on biological diversity conservation overseas. Hopefully, such discussions may lead to other relevant agencies (e.g. USDA, DOI, DOS, etc.) developing their own action plans on biological diversity activities.

In addition to these more generic policy and program activities, A.I.D.'s Bureau for Asia and the Near East (ANE) has undertaken development of a Bureau strategy on biological diversity conservation in Asia. Development of their Bureau strategy has included a workshop with scientific experts in natural resources in Asia, brought together under the auspices of the Ecological Society of America to help pinpoint major resource problem areas and prioritize A.I.D. conservation related efforts in the Asia Region. ANE has also entered into an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to fund a small grants program on biological diversity projects to the NGO/PVO community in Egypt, Pakistan and India.

A.I.D.'s Bureau for Science and Technology has entered into an agreement with the FWS to obtain an advisor for the Agency on biological diversity conservation activities.

Our advisor is working with A.I.D. staff to

help formulate an action plan and to better assess how A.I.D.'s diverse activities currently or potentially

could address conservation recommendations of the Strategy. Our advisor is consulting with the regional Bureaus and the Missions to provide technical assistance on biological diversity conservation activities.

A.I.D.'s Science Advisor's office is providing funds for proposals selected through innovative research small grants program that explore new, or may improve existing, utilization of biological diversity resources,

particularly genetic resources.

The basic conclusion of the Strategy was that provisions

for conserving biological diversity should be an integrated part of all development programs.

We are

including them in country environmental profiles and National Conservation Strategies. We believe the steps we have taken will allow the Agency to integrate

meaningful conservation considerations into our programs over the next several years.

2. A.I.D. RESPONSE TO WRI REPORT

QUESTION: How is A.I.D. expecting to respond to the recent International Task Force report "Tropical Forests: A Call for Action?"

ANSWER:

A.I.D. staff actively participated in preparation of
the Task Force report which cites a number of A.I.D.
projects in its case studies. Mr. Peter McPherson,
A.I.D. Administrator, also participated in the World
Resources Institute (WRI) press conference October
22, 1985, which marked the release of the report
"Tropical Forests: A Call for Action."
Administrator stated that "A.I.D. is strongly

The

committed to addressing the critical issues faced by developing countries that are rapidly losing forest resources.... We at A.I.D. will continue working with [other] donors in coordinating our efforts to address these problems...."

A.I.D. was represented at the first Donor

Coordination meeting in the Hague, November 19-23, 1985, to begin to coordinate an international response to tropical forest development needs and opportunities.

A.I.D. is pledged to work closely with the World Bank, UNDP and other multilateral and bilateral donors and international organizations (i.e., FAO) to address critical forestry sector

problems. An important conclusion of the Hague