I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6038 
To strengthen the role of the United States in the international community 
of nations in conserving natural resources to further global prosperity 
and security. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 27, 2012 
Mr. FORTENBERRY (for himself, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. 
CHANDLER, Mrs. BONO MACK, Ms. CHU, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. COHEN, 
Mr. GRIMM, Mr. DICKS, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. KING-
STON, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. FARR, Mr. REICHERT, 
Ms. HIRONO, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. HOLT, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of 
Georgia, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. KISSELL, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MORAN, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Ms. WOOLSEY) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs 
A BILL 
To strengthen the role of the United States in the inter-
national community of nations in conserving natural re-
sources to further global prosperity and security. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Conservation 
Act of 2012’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Sound natural resource management and 
healthy levels of biological diversity are vital to alle-
viating poverty in developing countries that depend 
on these resources for food, medicine, housing mate-
rial, trade, recreation, and other activities that ben-
efit from the intrinsic value of wildlife and its habi-
tat. 
(2) The United States is uniquely positioned to 
partner with the international community to con-
front natural resources challenges in developing 
countries. 
(3) The United States needs a strategy for 
working jointly with other countries to address re-
newable natural resource depletion trends around 
the world and the threats such trends pose to the 
economy, health, and security of the United States. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) DEVELOPING COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘devel-
oping country’’ means a country or area that is on 
the List of Official Development Assistance Recipi-
ents of the Development Assistance Committee of 
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and De-
velopment. 
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(2) HOTSPOT REGIONS.—The term ‘‘hotspot re-
gions’’ means regions of the developing world that 
contain an unusually high concentration of species 
found nowhere else and that have lost at least 70 
percent of their original extent. 
(3) NATURAL RESOURCES OR RENEWABLE NAT-
URAL RESOURCES.—The terms ‘‘natural resources’’ 
and ‘‘renewable natural resources’’ mean natural re-
sources, including soils, forests, animal and plant 
populations and products, coral reefs, and water, but 
do not include nonrenewable natural resources such 
as minerals, oil, and other fossil fuels. 
SEC. 4. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to strengthen the capacity 
of the United States to further economic development and 
improve stability and security both domestically and 
abroad by establishing a comprehensive strategy for— 
(1) enhancing and expanding partnerships 
throughout the international community to address 
natural resource challenges to ensure healthy and 
sustainable supplies of water, wildlife habitat and 
populations, fish stocks and habitat, forests, plants, 
and other critical resources; 
(2) 
integrating 
international 
conservation 
projects and activities to advance United States for-
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eign policy priorities in areas such as security, de-
mocratization, sustainable food production, and 
clean water; 
(3) expanding and enhancing the economic and 
wildlife conservation benefits that derive from prop-
erly managed international hunting and angling 
tourism; 
(4) addressing poaching, illegal logging, fishing 
and wildlife trafficking; and 
(5) establishing more efficient and effective 
policies and processes for departments and agencies 
engaged in, or providing support to, international 
conservation by— 
(A) identifying clear goals, priorities, and 
benchmarks of success; 
(B) improving coordination among such 
agencies in order to clarify roles, reduce dupli-
cation, and enhance effectiveness; 
(C) improving agency processes to ensure 
conservation programs are administered effec-
tively, efficiently, and with minimal expendi-
tures for program administration; 
(D) identifying conservation programs and 
policies currently being utilized abroad and 
evaluating the potential for similar approaches 
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to be adopted by the United States to further 
the purposes of this Act; and 
(E) encouraging participation by the 
United States in various multilateral efforts to 
leverage financial commitments to conserve nat-
ural resources. 
TITLE I—ASSESSING EXISTING 
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS 
SEC. 101. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE AUDIT 
AND REPORT. 
(a) AUDIT REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall conduct an audit of 
existing United States international conservation policies 
and programs to determine the extent to which such pro-
grams are achieving the following objectives: 
(1) Enhancing and expanding partnerships 
throughout the international community to address 
natural resource challenges to ensure healthy and 
sustainable supplies of water, wildlife habitat and 
populations, fish stocks and habitat, forests, plants, 
and other critical resources. 
(2) 
Integrating 
international 
conservation 
projects and activities to advance United States for-
eign policy priorities in areas such as security, de-
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mocratization, sustainable food production, and 
clean water. 
(3) Expanding and enhancing the economic and 
wildlife conservation benefits that derive from prop-
erly managed international hunting and angling 
tourism. 
(4) Addressing poaching, illegal logging, fishing, 
and wildlife trafficking. 
(5) Establishing more efficient and effective 
policies and processes for executive branch agencies 
engaged in or supporting international conservation 
by— 
(A) identifying clear goals, priorities, and 
benchmarks of success; 
(B) improving coordination among such 
agencies in order to clarify roles, reduce dupli-
cation, and enhance effectiveness; 
(C) improving agency processes to ensure 
conservation programs are administered effec-
tively, efficiently, and with minimal expendi-
tures for program administration; and 
(D) identifying conservation programs and 
policies currently being utilized abroad and 
evaluating the potential for similar approaches 
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to be adopted by the United States to further 
the purposes of this Act. 
(b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall submit to the appropriate au-
thorizing and appropriating committees of Congress a re-
port containing the findings of the audit conducted pursu-
ant to subsection (a) and any recommendations for legisla-
tion necessary to better address the findings. 
(c) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—The report required 
under subsection (b) shall include— 
(1) a detailed description of all federally spon-
sored multilateral international conservation pro-
grams, including— 
(A) the key agencies associated with each 
program; 
(B) the primary goals of each program; 
(C) the extent to which executive branch 
agencies have established measures of perform-
ance and effectiveness for each program; and 
(D) the amount appropriated for each pro-
gram in the 5 previous fiscal years; 
(2) an assessment on how well executive branch 
agencies are collaborating and coordinating on inter-
national conservation efforts; 
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(3) an assessment on the extent to which execu-
tive branch agencies have established strategic goals 
and performance measures; 
(4) any recommendations that the Comptroller 
General considers appropriate and useful to improve 
collaboration and coordination between executive 
branch agencies on international conservation ef-
forts; and 
(5) any other analyses the Comptroller General 
considers necessary or appropriate. 
TITLE II—POLICY PLANNING 
AND IMPLEMENTATION 
SEC. 
201. 
COMPREHENSIVE 
UNITED 
STATES 
INTER-
NATIONAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the President, acting 
through the Interagency Working Group on Global Con-
servation designated pursuant to section 202(a), shall es-
tablish a comprehensive strategy (hereafter referred to as 
the ‘‘International Conservation Strategy’’) to strengthen 
the capacity of the United States to collaborate with other 
countries, international organizations, the private sector, 
and private voluntary organizations on a sustained inter-
national effort to conserve natural resources and enhance 
biodiversity in a manner beneficial to the economic well- 
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being and security of the United States and other partici-
pating countries. 
(b) GOALS AND BENCHMARKS.—The International 
Conservation Strategy established pursuant to subsection 
(a) shall provide a comprehensive plan of action that iden-
tifies specific and measurable goals, benchmarks, and time 
frames for— 
(1) advancing conservation in the world’s most 
ecologically and economically important terrestrial 
and marine ecosystems; 
(2) protecting distinct hotspot regions that pro-
vide a high level of economic benefit to human com-
munities as well as a high concentration of genetic 
and other natural resources; 
(3) helping developing countries address illegal, 
unreported, and unregulated industrial fishing where 
economies are negatively impacted by depleted fish 
stocks; 
(4) safeguarding natural areas that provide 
fresh water to developing countries; 
(5) protecting forests and advancing enforce-
ment efforts against illegal logging in centers of the 
illegal logging trade; 
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(6) advancing enforcement efforts against 
poaching and unlawful wildlife trafficking oper-
ations; 
(7) facilitating and leveraging the economic and 
conservation benefits that derive from properly man-
aged international hunting, angling, and wildlife ob-
servation tourism; 
(8) stabilizing or reversing renewable natural 
resource scarcity and degradation trends in regions 
that are vulnerable to conflict, instability, or mass 
migration from natural resource depletion; 
(9) expanding substantially the amount of eco-
nomically and ecologically significant forest in devel-
oping countries; and 
(10) reducing the rate of erosion and desertifi-
cation in developing countries where soil loss is re-
sulting in severe impacts to the economy, food secu-
rity, or stability. 
(c) COORDINATION
AND LEVERAGE.—The Inter-
national Conservation Strategy shall coordinate and lever-
age the participation of relevant executive branch agen-
cies, other countries, the private sector, and private vol-
untary organizations in ways that— 
(1) reflect Government-wide policy that encom-
passes the programs of, and reduces duplication 
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among, executive branch agencies that influence, en-
gage in, or support international conservation; 
(2) provide a plan to identify and improve 
United States policies that could be undermining the 
conservation of critical natural resources and bio-
diversity abroad; and 
(3) seek to encourage and leverage participation 
from governments of developing countries and other 
governments, the private sector, private voluntary 
organizations, and international organizations to im-
plement the Strategy. 
(d) ASSESSING AND IMPROVING EFFECTIVENESS.— 
The International Conservation Strategy shall include a 
description of the performance and efficiency measures de-
veloped pursuant to section 202(a)(2)(C) and a process 
for their utilization. 
(e) COUNTRY OWNERSHIP.—In preparing the Inter-
national Conservation Strategy, the Interagency Working 
Group on Global Conservation shall ensure that the Strat-
egy is appropriate to local needs and conditions and incor-
porates the views of partner countries, and describes a 
means for local citizens to participate in the implementa-
tion and the setting of priorities of such programs in the 
field. The International Conservation Strategy should 
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build upon partner country development plans and re-
gional strategies. 
(f) REVISION.—Not later than 4 years after the 
International Conservation Strategy is established, and 
every 4 years thereafter, the Strategy shall be revised to 
reflect— 
(1) new information collected pursuant to the 
implementation of the Strategy; and 
(2) advances in the understanding of biological 
diversity and the economic and security impacts of 
renewable natural resource degradation. 
SEC. 202. POLICY IMPLEMENTATION. 
(a) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP
ON GLOBAL 
CONSERVATION.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
President shall establish the Interagency Working 
Group on Global Conservation (hereafter referred to 
as the ‘‘working group’’), which shall include the 
participation of the executive branch agencies that 
affect, oversee, or implement programs that conduct 
or support international conservation activities or af-
fect the ability of the United States to achieve the 
goals of the International Conservation Strategy. 
(2) DUTIES.—The working group shall— 
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(A) develop, through utilization of the re-
port completed pursuant to section 101(b) and 
appropriate public and agency input, the Inter-
national Conservation Strategy established pur-
suant to section 201(a); 
(B) identify measures to enhance program 
and policy coordination among the relevant ex-
ecutive branch agencies in implementing the 
Strategy by ensuring that each relevant execu-
tive branch agency undertakes programs pri-
marily in those areas where each such agency 
has the greatest expertise, technical capabilities, 
and potential for success, and ensuring that 
agencies avoid duplication of effort; 
(C) work with the Office of Management 
and Budget to evaluate the effectiveness of the 
international conservation programs of the rel-
evant executive branch agencies in meeting the 
goals of the Strategy by developing and apply-
ing specific performance measurements, includ-
ing assessments of— 
(i) program effectiveness; 
(ii) program efficiency and cost-effec-
tiveness; 
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(iii) program accessibility and trans-
parency; and 
(iv) agency overhead or project admin-
istration costs for programs operating in 
the field; 
(D) submit to the heads of the United 
States Government departments and agencies 
represented 
on 
the 
working 
group 
pro-
grammatic recommendations that are consistent 
with the priorities of the Strategy and policy 
recommendations to ensure that the polices of 
such departments and agencies advance the in-
terests of the United States in conserving crit-
ical global natural resources and biodiversity; 
(E) submit to such heads recommendations 
for facilitating coordination and continuity 
across the departments and agencies in the im-
plementation of global conservation policies sub-
ject to interagency or multi-agency jurisdiction; 
(F) 
identify 
innovative 
conservation 
projects, policies, and initiatives that contribute 
to achieving multiple foreign policy goals simul-
taneously, including— 
(i) reducing poverty; 
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section (a) of section 101, including congressional actions 
under subsection (b) of such section, to achieve the objec-
tives, goals, and benchmarks described in section 201(b), 
and submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
of Representatives, and to other appropriate authorizing 
and appropriating committees of Congress a report on the 
development and implementation of the International Con-
servation Strategy, including— 
(1) assessing progress made during the pre-
ceding 3 years in accomplishing the goals and bench-
marks described in section 201(b); 
(2) highlighting executive branch agency con-
servation programs and projects that have the po-
tential for replication or adaptation, particularly at 
low cost, in other United States international con-
servation efforts; 
(3) identifying progress made in increasing the 
efficiency and effectiveness of United States inter-
national conservation programs and reducing execu-
tive branch agency overhead or project administra-
tion costs for conservation programs implemented 
abroad; 
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