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Summary:
The Multinational Species Conservation Fund is a relatively small program within the Fish and Wildlife Service which has generated enormous constituent interest, chiefly concerning its funding levels. This report describes the Fund briefly, and summarizes recent and proposed appropriations levels. It will be updated as events warrant. The Multinational Species Conservation Fund (MSCF), which currently benefits tigers, the six species of rhinoceroses, Asian and African elephants, and great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and the various species of gibbons), has generated a tremendous amount of constituent interest. The Fund supports conservation efforts benefitting these species, often in conjunction with efforts under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to which the United States is a Party.1 The FY2006 request for the MSCF is $8.3 million, which includes the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund (NMBCF). This represents a 13.5% decrease from the FY2005 enacted level of $9.6 million for the MSCF and NMBCF, which were funded at $5.7 million and $3.9 million, respectively. The NMBCF was funded as a separate program for FY2005. The President proposes to bring the NMBCF under the MSCF and to allocate $4.0 million of the requested $8.3 million for the MSCF to the NMBCF for FY2006. Congress rejected the proposed transfer in FY2005, as it had done in the three previous fiscal years.
