That the President of the United States, Donald Trump, would withdraw support for nature conservation perhaps did not come as a surprise. But that the cuts would be so extensive surprised many.
This can have fateful consequences for many species and natural areas on Earth. The United States has long been the largest contributor in such contexts. The contributions, many billions of dollars, have been given to countries or to organizations and researchers working with nature conservation. For example, the aid agency USAID can be mentioned, which in 2023 alone gave $375 million to various projects in 60 countries to preserve biological diversity and an additional $318 million to various forest projects with the goal of preserving species and landscapes, according to several American newspapers.
”Efforts have been ruined”
All these efforts have now been ruined. And from the United States' position in the world, and the respect we have enjoyed, we have just shot ourselves in the foot, says John Robinson at the conservation organization Wildlife Conservation Society to Yale Environment.
Among the projects are initiatives to combat species protection crimes, such as poaching of elephants and rhinos in African countries. Now, these are hanging by a thread since Trump's assistant Elon Musk has more or less dismantled USAID. The budget has been drastically cut and many employees have been fired. As a result, the protection of gorillas and chimpanzees in Central Africa, rare fish in Southeast Asia, and the rainforests in parts of the Amazon are threatened, according to Yale Environment, a magazine published by Yale University.
Strained budgets
The examples can be multiplied. USAID has been appreciated by many for its foresight and willingness to support ambitious, large-scale projects over many years, which is unusual in such contexts.
Many have wondered if the aid agencies in Europe could step in and replace the withdrawn support from the United States. But the war in Ukraine has at the same time led to increased expenditures for all European countries and strained budgets.
