With the US and Canada sharing a border while Mexico meets with the United States, in order to protect North American wildlife and wilderness a collaborative effort is necessary, particularly as global climate change is beginning to put many North American species at risk.
The management of parks that stretch across shared territories or that are near the border dividing North American countries are being discussed with greater urgency in order to ensure that preservation and survival of the local ecosystems remain a priority, particularly at a time of need. The reality is, that while citizens of the various countries might respect borders (to some degree), species don’t have these same concepts of perimeters which means that often migration takes place across borders making their protection an international issue. As the United States is expanding their immigration fences, there has already been some discussion as to how they will offset the negative affects that will be posed on the ecosystem by the 670 mile fence construction. Which, despite complaints from environmental groups, was granted the right to continue by the US Supreme Court.
While the immigration fences being built might put a strain on the ecosystem, Canada, the US and Mexico still intends to put forth a joint effort, and doesn’t want this physical division to be seen as a metaphorical one when it comes to their mutual environmental goals. With this newly formed agreement regarding wilderness protection, the three North American countries intend to focus on tracking species migratory patterns, and regular testing of air and water quality which will be conducted by the 7 agencies , a cumulative total from the three countries, that will be responsible for carry out and meeting goals set under this new agreement.
Via: WorldWatch
Image Via: Flickr User Marc Davison with a Creative Commons License
