International Affairs Program

Through its international programs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works multilaterally with many partners and nations in the implementation of international treaties and conventions, and on-the-ground projects for conservation of native and foreign species and the habitats on which they depend. The International Affairs Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is comprised of three divisions.

Division of International Conservation
Because the planet’s wildlife is of aesthetic, recreational, economic, ecological, spiritual, and cultural benefit to all Earth’s inhabitants, and because U.S. consumer habits and policy have implications for wildlife far beyond our own borders, the United States federal government has charged the Service’s Division of International Conservation with the responsibility of supporting wildlife conservation initiatives in neighboring and remote countries.

Division of Scientific Authority
The Division of Scientific Authority provides scientific advice on the issuance of permits for international trade; manages the listing of native and foreign species under the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES); implements the Wild Bird Conservation Act; and other policy matters as they may relate to international wildlife trade. Through its chairmanship of the Medicinal Plant Working Group, the Division of Scientific Authority supports novel partnerships that benefit pollinators, plants, and people.

Division of Management Authority
In response to ever-increasing global pressures of wildlife trade and habitat loss of species worldwide, the Division of Management Authority dedicates its efforts to conserving species at risk from trade and implementing policies that have a broad impact on conservation.

Specific pollinator activities undertaken:

• International wildlife trade control and monitoring for many pollinator species including butterflies, bats and hummingbirds. Search the CITES species database for CITES-listed species.
• The establishment of the Monarch Butterfly Program
• Providing funding opportunities from the Wildlife Without Borders Mexico Program, including more than $500,000 in total funding for monarch and migratory bat monitoring and conservation projects since 1996.
• The development of plant and pollinator fact sheets in collaboration with the Medicinal Plant Working Group, the IUCN-Medicinal Plant Specialist Group, and the Pollinator Partnership

For more information on the U.S. role in global wildlife conservation and responsibilities for managing international wildlife trade, visit the International Affairs Program homepage.