旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � BIODIVERSITY: BEYOND NOAH'S ARK Page 84 � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴캑 � By: Rep. James H. Scheuer, Chairman, Subcommittee on the Environment � � Continued... � � � � The time has come to act before species become crisis situations. We � � need to strengthen the ESA, but we also need to complement it with � � national biodiversity legislation. We need to undertake a national � � inventory of our biological resources and their status, and identify � � species and ecological communities of outstanding value. � � With this knowledge, we can begin to plan for the sustainable management � � of our resources. We can take measures to protect "hot spots" containing � � sensitive species or critical ecosystems. We can plan and act before � � additional species become endangered. Do we need more than 3,000 � � candidate species to tell us there is a problem? � � Last week, negotiations for an international treaty on the conservation � � of biological diversity were completed and a treaty is now ready for � � signing at UNCED this June. Let us take the first step forward toward � � this goal by putting our own house in order. The small Central American � � nation of Costa Rica recently launched a 10-year inventory of its � � species. Can we not afford to do the same and inventory our own wealth � � of biological resources? � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸