SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 2

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2022

INTRODUCED BY

Mimi Stewart

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY WITH THE SUPPORT OF CONGRESS, FEDERAL AGENCIES AND STATE, LOCAL AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS; REQUESTING ALL PARTIES TO SUPPORT THE NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND TAKE ACTIONS TO PROTECT SPECIES AND HABITATS AND HELP FORESTALL THE LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY.

     WHEREAS, the people of New Mexico have an important relationship with nature and have called on their local, state and federal governments to preserve and protect nature both within New Mexico and across the United States; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is the home of approximately four thousand five hundred eighty-three known species, the fourth-highest native species richness of any state, and ranks second in the number of native mammals that are of ecological, spiritual, cultural, historic, recreational and scientific value to the people of New Mexico and that need to be protected, both now and for future generations; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has the fourth-highest plant diversity of any state, with more than two hundred thirty-five rare and endangered plant species and one hundred nine species that occur nowhere else in the world; and

     WHEREAS, as of 2020, there are one hundred sixteen wildlife species in New Mexico that are state-listed as endangered or threatened, and there are over seventy wildlife species in the state that are federally listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973; and

     WHEREAS, many New Mexico pollinators, including native bees and butterflies, are in decline and studies show declines of sixty to eighty percent in insect populations, including insect pollinators, in recent years; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico and the United States are facing an unprecedented biodiversity crisis, largely driven by human activity; and

     WHEREAS, human-driven activities are significantly damaging the earth's ecosystems by altering seventy-five percent of the area of terrestrial environments and sixty-six percent of marine environments; exploiting wildlife and plant species; accelerating climate change; polluting air, land and water; and introducing invasive species; and

     WHEREAS, human-driven activities are threatening approximately one million species with extinction in the coming decades, causing population sizes of wild species to decline by an average of sixty-eight percent for mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles, including loss of nearly three billion birds in North America since 1970; and

     WHEREAS, coordination at a global, national, regional, state and local scale is necessary to address the biodiversity crisis; and

     WHEREAS, the decline of biodiversity disproportionately impacts indigenous and other communities that rely on nature for essential services, including Native Americans, who offer unique perspectives and traditional ecological knowledge critical to preserving biodiversity; and

     WHEREAS, communities of color, low-income communities, tribal communities and other populations that have been systematically and deliberately targeted for siting environmentally degrading activities and excluded from conservation efforts face disproportionate impacts from biodiversity loss; and

     WHEREAS, there is no coordinating policy to maximize the effectiveness of the federal government's conservation efforts and collaboration with the states, local governments, tribes, private landowners and other nongovernmental stakeholders; and

     WHEREAS, the United States should play a leading role on the international stage in addressing the biodiversity crisis, yet, unlike most other countries, the United States does not have a national biodiversity strategy as part of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislature call on the federal government to:

          A. establish a national biodiversity strategy to ensure the conservation and restoration of the biodiversity of the United States; secure and restore the ecosystem services provided by nature for current and future generations; set necessary goals for protecting biodiversity in the coming decades; promote social equity and justice in the conservation of the country's biodiversity; coordinate the actions of federal agencies to advance the conservation of biodiversity; promote collaboration among the federal, state, local and tribal governments, nongovernmental stakeholders, civil society and international partners to advance conservation; and honor the federal trust obligations to tribal nations and Native Americans; and

          B. develop the national biodiversity strategy with significant public input and in collaboration with federal and state agencies, including those in New Mexico, tribes, communities of color, low-income communities, private landowners and other nongovernmental stakeholders; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the national biodiversity strategy include direction to congress, federal agencies, states, local governments and tribes:

          A. supporting the national goal of conserving at least thirty percent of United States lands and waters to protect biodiversity by 2030, setting other goals necessary to reduce the threats to biodiversity as indicated by the best available scientific information; and

          B. taking action to protect threatened, endangered and at-risk species from further imperilment or extinction; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the United States and the president's cabinet secretaries, the governor of New Mexico, the New Mexico congressional delegation and the United Nations environment programme and division for sustainable development goals.

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