good morning everyone the legislative hearing by the subcommittee on oceans and wildlife will now come to order today we will hear testimony concerning h r forty four sixteen the great  conservation reauthorization amendment act of two thousand and ten under committee rules the chairwoman in the ranking minority member will make opening statement as the subcommittee meets this morning to consider legislation to reauthorize the great ape conservation act conserving great ape populations remains a significant challenge but the sad reality is that great ape populations continue to face a wide variety of threats including habitat fragmentation gradation and loss hunting for bush meat and sport capture for the pet trade and diseases such as the  virus that were once abundant across their ranges in africa in asia are severely depleted or teetering on the brink of extinction so as a result all great apes remain listed as critically endangered or endangered species on the international union for the conservation of nature's red list and protected in the united states under the endangered species act yet despite daunting circumstances there is reason for optimism since the passage of the great conservation act in two thousand authored by colleague from california and the former chairman of the national resources committee congressman george miller genuine progress has been made to better understand and conserve great perhaps no other example best demonstrates the achievements made possible through this matching grant program than the wildlife conservation society discovery in august of two thousand and eight of a new population of western lowland gorillas in central africa additionally conservationists announced in april of two thousand and nine the discovery of a new population living in the eastern mountain forests on the island of borneo groundbreaking discoveries made clear that the federal funds invested appropriated funds with more than twenty million of non federal matching contributions to fund a total of two hundred sixty five projects across asia and africa these projects have allowed the service initiate restoration efforts provide for additional law enforcement personnel and training in the range state build local capacity and awareness of conservation efforts and conduct invaluable studies of great ape populations and the impact of human actions on the population congressman george miller introduced forty four sixteen authorize the successful conservation program for the next five years i am a proud original co sponsor of this legislation and i applaud him for his unwavering commitment to great conservation by adequately investing in this effective and efficient matching grant program today not only can we ensure that populations of great survive into the future we may very likely invite new discoveries about these wildlife populations that are our closest relatives  from louisiana mr cassidy thank you for being here this morning and now our witnesses i'd like to take this opportunity to introduce them we have a very impressive list of witnesses today we have missed  assistant secretary for fish wildlife and part from the u s department of interior we have mr james joyce executive director of the africa program wildlife conservation society we have dr mark being here today and as we begin i would note for all the witnesses that the red timing light that you will see on the table will indicate when five minutes have passed and your time has concluded we appreciate your  cooperation in complying with the rules and be assured that your full written statement will be submitted for the record so at this point i would like to recognize miss leiter who is representing the department of  be panel with some of the most important partners we have the department greatly appreciate the subcommittee's continues leadership in international conservation and we strongly support this bill this program is of special necessary to address the myriad of threats confronting worldwide from two thousand and five to two thousand and nine we have funded two hundred sixty five conservation projects in more than twenty countr much of the success of the act is due to its direct and coordinated support of on the ground conservation projects in africa and asia projects implemented by a diverse array of partners including n g o s range country governments and stakeholders at the local and village level over the course of the active distance our partners and collaborators have more than doubled the twelve point four million dollars in appropriations to the fund through matching contributions while we have seen many accomplishments in the field it is important to note that the future of great is still in question continue to be threatened by habitat loss illegal hunting and the illegal trade great apes have an inherently slow reproductive rate making them especially vulnerable to population decline one of the most severe threats to great is the illegal trade in bush meat target these animals because their meat commands a premium for identifying and protecting the last great areas of significant conservation interest is a priority under the great conservation  examples are in my statement i would like to highlight to conservation story here today the cross river gorilla inhabits a remote corner of west africa rattling the border of nigeria and camer it is estimated that fewer than three hundred cross river gorillas remain in about twelve mountain refuges spread across the landscape about the size of connecticut although there has been a rapid decline in cross river gorilla populations over the past one hundred years the concerted efforts of conservationists and researchers are paying off and the hunting of these gorillas for bushmeat has been reduced to its lowest level in decades areas in cameroon benefiting roughly one fourth of all the known remaining cross river gorillas additionally a trans boundary management program has been initiated bringing together governments on both sides of the border for the first time in decades there is real hope for the cross river in asia and a far off corner of north vietnam one indomitable population of  given has survived the ravages of the forestation and human development to maintain their home on the border with china this is the only known population of gibbon which is the rarest  world after its closest relative to hainan given since two thousand and two with funding from the great conservation fund biologists from fauna and flora international located this funding support of the great conservation fund the core of the conservation effort so far and continued support is needed to maintain the long term conservation vision for the survival of the enclosing i am pleased to restate the administration's strong support for this legislation the department welcomes the opportunity working with experienced individuals local communities state and federal agencies for legislation to require the panels can be given the great expertise of the services the current process is transparent and well and a legislative requirement to establish advisory panels could divert resources pro fund and i'd like to finish by sharing just one of africa's rarest the cross river gorilla lives in one of the biologically and culturally richest places on earth along the borders of nigeria and cameroon when i first visited created a new national park today there are more than three hundred gorillas local communities have formed guardians to protect their heritage investigating the feasibility of both tourism and red projects and the future is increasingly bright for the cross river and for the people and the biodiversity of this or none of this would have been possible without the financial and political leadership of the fish and wildlife  service conservation reauthorization an amendment success story reaffirm american leadership and global conservation underscore our commitment to international treaty obligation and catalyze global efforts to save the world work done by fish and wildlife fund conservation fund one of the marvelous things about this funding is it has been spread across many different depending on the needs of the various populations  far outdistance what you have already quoted in terms of being able to address sometimes large projects that would really make a difference on the ground and we really appreciate the dedication of the funding country and if we look at the fish and wildlife service for example one of the things that we're very proud of is that in over the past hundred years of our existence the people who have given their lives for the conservation of wildlife  staff in the past century in the congo alone in the past decade over two hundred people have lost their lives managers people serving great in that country particularly have lost their lives participation in the hearing and i would also like to remind all of the witnesses if you have some additional members of the committee if they have additional questions for the witnesses we will ask you to respond to these in writing and in addition the hearing record will be held open for ten days for anyone that would like to submit additional information for the record and if there is no further business before this subcommittee the chairwoman again thank the members of the subcommittee and our witnesses for their participation here this morning and the subcommittee now stan