Bird protection treaty a reminder of cooperation
Once a policy prospect, a hardened wall along the Mexico border has morphed into an imminent construction project. Conservationists have been fighting the idea for years out of concern for migratory species such as pronghorn antelope and desert tortoises. But the millions of birds, bats and winged insects that can fly over a physical border are confronting a wall of a different sort — one made not of iron, wire and cinderblocks, but of antipathy, enmity and discord. These species cannot thrive without international cooperation.
We know such cooperation is possible. This year marks the 100th and 80th anniversaries of two important treaties with Canada and Mexico that have protected our shared natural resources through energetic cooperation and mutual support.
These two international agreements offer tangible proof that neighborliness and cooperation can build effective cultural and economic connections that transcend political boundaries and ensure lasting protection of our mutual heritage. What’s more, both treaties were signed during periods of intense societal stress and anxiety, arguably as bad or worse than what we face today. When the U.S. and Canada initially negotiated the Migratory Bird Treaty in 1916, much of the world — including Canada — was enmeshed in the Great War. That summer saw President Woodrow Wilson striving to broker peace amongst the European powers, his final effort to keep the U.S. out of the battle. Yet with an alacrity that would make today’s environmentalists boil with envy, Congress ratified the treaty. Great Britain’s King George V (Canada’s foreign policy was not yet autonomous) was preoccupied with the Somme Offensive, but the king did eventually sign, and formal ratifications took place on Dec. 7, 1916.
With the Migratory Bird Treaty enacted, a new law ruled over the skies, prohibiting the killing of insect-eating birds and establishing “close seasons” when migratory game birds cannot be hunted. And 20 years later, during the midst of the Great Depression, the United States and Mexico agreed to a Convention on “Migratory Birds and Game Mammals,” to protect a suite of game and nongame migratory birds shared between the countries.
These treaties set a strong precedent for cooperative conservation of migratory species in North America. The ensuing century has seen more than 20 significant cooperative initiatives — most of them established by governments, but all involving civil society — to protect migratory species across the continent.
Many people today fully recognize the value of birds. Yet while the migratory birds of North America have long enjoyed protections, bats have been silently (and, under the cover of night, invisibly) providing us with services without the benefit of international agreements. Perhaps most spectacular of the migratory bat species is the Mexican free-tailed. Millions of these bats can roost together in a single cave, and smaller urban colonies have become “must-see” activities that generate significant tourism revenues.
But whether rural, urban or suburban, these bats are ravenous when they come out; they can consume 75 percent of their body weight each night in flying insects. Up to a third of this diet consists of agricultural pests that afflict corn, cotton, tomatoes and other crops. By consuming the pests before they damage crops, Mexican free-tailed bats provide free pest control services to farmers in the U.S. We have estimated that the value of these services ranged from $5 to $24 million per year between 1990-2008.
In what we hope is a first step toward an equivalent treaty to protect bats, last year the U.S., Mexico and Canada signed a Letter of Intent to informally coordinate bat conservation efforts. We implore the incoming Trump administration to pursue this effort toward a fully fledged migratory bat treaty with our closest neighbors. This would be the appropriate way to celebrate the 1916 Treaty; not only would it be of immense conservation and economic value, but it would remind us — and provide assurance to our neighbors — that even in difficult times, the United States can and will do the right thing at an international level.
A century ago, this is exactly what our predecessors did under the Migratory Bird Treaty; now it’s our turn. As the only species that recognizes international borders, humans must ensure that migratory species can transcend walls — physical or otherwise. Simply put, they need us, and we most certainly need them. So let us hope that, 100 years from now, Americans will be thankful for our having bestowed a similar living heritage of the practical value and incalculable aesthetic wonder of millions of migratory birds and bats.
Lopez-Hoffman is an associate professor of Natural Resources and associate professor of Natural Resource Policy at the University of Arizona. Chester is an assistant adjunct professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and lecturer at Brandeis University.