United States

TRAFFIC initiated a series of surveys to gather basic data on the status, management, and trade of the American black bear. The purpose of the effort was to establish a baseline of information on the species and to examine trends over a period of years. TRAFFIC published the results of the first two surveys in a previous report. This report culminates the project, summarizing information from TRAFFIC’s third survey and comparing the data it provided to what was learned earlier.

The first in a regional series, this report examines forest management experiences of Canada and the United States, which have interrelated histories, economies and similar ecological and social systems.

These 15th Proceedings provide an overview of the ongoing research and management activities on polar bears in the circumpolar Arctic. Together with the previous 14 proceedings, they provide an historic record of the international effort in protecting, studying, and managing polar bears. The document addresses more recent concerns of threats arising as a consequence of increased human activities in both the Arctic and in regions far beyond the Arctic.

The growing pace of international commerce has created an increased risk of invasion by alien species, which often take root and thrive in their new environment, often at great costs for the local biota and economy. The risk of introduction of harmful organisms into the United States is increasing exponentially, with costs to the American economy measured in hundreds of billions of dollars.

Trade and travel are the primary drivers of biological invasion both into and within the United States, and prevention measures have been identified as the most cost-effective means of minimizing the introduction and impact of invasive species. A recognized gap in the US government’s knowledge of the role that trade has played in the introduction of invasive species into the US led to a study undertaken by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of International Affairs and IUCN.

IUCN's 5th World Parks Congress (2003) concluded that parks should not exist as unique islands, but need to be planned and managed as an integral part of the broader landscape. Ecological networks provide an operational model for conserving biodiversity that is based on ecological principles and allow a degree of human use of the landscape.

Environmental accounting---the modification of the national income accounts to take into consideration the economic role of the environment---has grown in importance over the past ten years. However, many countries have not yet implemented such accounts, and there is much controversy about whether and how to do so.