The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's International Affairs Program coordinates domestic and international efforts to protect, restore, and enhance the world’s diverse wildlife and their habitats with a focus on species of international concern, including domestic species that extend beyond our borders or are traded internationally. We envision a world where all people value nature and conserve living resources for the well-being of life on Earth.

What We Do

Our Services

The International Affairs Program protects wildlife and habitats around the world through distinct but complementary approaches: by providing financial and technical support and partnerships to combat threats to wildlife habitats and strengthen capacity for conservation around the world; by implementing domestic laws and international treaties, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and providing policy leadership on international wildlife trade and on combating wildlife trafficking; by issuing permits that allow individuals, organizations, businesses, and others to engage in legal, sustainable trade and participate in international wildlife conservation in numerous ways; and by bringing the perspective of wildlife and conservation to interagency work around preventing the spread of zoonotic diseases and adapting to climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

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Our Laws and Regulations

Our work is mandated through some 40 domestic laws, international treaties, and other multilateral agreements. Some of these include the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Multinational Species Conservation Acts, Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt (END) Wildlife Trafficking Act, Pelly Amendment to the Fishermen's Protective ActMarine Mammal Protection Act, Canada/Mexico/U.S. Trilateral Committee for Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation and Management, Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention), Western Hemisphere Convention, Wild Bird Conservation Act, Lacey Act (injurious wildlife), and Cartagena Convention and the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW).

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