It’s a multilateral move that honors the reality that environmental and ecological issues don’t recognize national boundaries.
We learn from Worldwatch Institute that the United States, Mexico and Canada have forged an agreement to collaboratively identify and address wilderness protection priorities across North America.
The US has cooperated with both Mexico and Canada on shared natural resources concerns dating back to the early part of the last century. But the intergovernmental initiative now established blazes a new trail for us to follow alongside our neighbors to the north and the south in sharing information and pooling resources to such shared concerns as habitat protection, fire hazard management and climate change, among others.
Worldwatch Institute quotes US Fish and Wildlife Service director Sam Hamilton as providing the context within which the agreement is forged, and what may arise as a result, as timely and significant:
“As climate changes, the distribution and abundance of animal and plant species will be affected … and wildlife will know no boundaries — whether state or international. This is an opportunity to look across borders as we design future landscapes.”
In addition, they relay a statement from US National Park Service director Jon Jarvis that speaks to why it is critical for governments and organizations to work across the national boundary lines that environmental challenges simply do not recognize:
“Protected areas have to be larger than they were previously. Also, they have to have connectivity, eventually across country boundaries. Species’ historical range of variability is no longer a reliable paradigm.”
“Think globally, act continentally” may not catch on as a catchphrase, but the three-nation agreement for dedicated environmental cooperation is in the very best spirit of our all being in this together.
Photo courtesy of eclectico63, via Wikimedia Commons
