The US Endangered Species Act: a powerful tool to protect biodiversity (if we use it)

Abstract

The people of the United States have one of the world’s most powerful and successful legal tools for addressing the current extinction crisis: the US Endangered Species Act. Its purpose is to prevent the extinction of our most at-risk plants and animals, increase their numbers and effect their full recovery and removal from the endangered list. Over the past four decades, it has repeatedly demonstrated that – when used to the full extent of the law – it works.