§ 7644 — Community Conservation

The Secretary of State, in collaboration with the United State Agency for International Development, heads of other relevant United States agencies, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and other development partners, may provide support in focus countries to carry out the recommendations made in the strategic plan required under section 7631(a)(2) of this title as such recommendations relate to the development, scaling, and replication of community wildlife conservancies and community conservation programs in focus countries to assist with rural stability and greater security for people and wildlife, empower and support communities to manage or benefit from their wildlife resources in a long-term biologically viable manner, and reduce the threat of poaching and trafficking, including through— (1) promoting conservation-based enterprises and incentives, such as eco-tourism and stewardship-oriented agricultural production, that empower communities to manage wildlife, natural resources, and community ventures where appropriate, by ensuring they benefit from well-managed wildlife populations; (2) helping create alternative livelihoods to poaching by mitigating wildlife trafficking, helping support rural stability, greater security for people and wildlife, responsible economic development, and economic incentives to conserve wildlife populations; (3) engaging regional businesses and the private sector to develop goods and services to aid in anti-poaching and anti-trafficking measures; (4) working with communities to develop secure and safe methods of sharing information with enforcement officials; (5) providing technical assistance to support land use stewardship plans to improve the economic, environmental, and social outcomes in community-owned or -managed lands; (6) supporting community anti-poaching efforts, including policing and informant networks; (7) working with community and national governments to develop relevant policy and regulatory frameworks to enable and promote community conservation programs, including supporting law enforcement engagement with wildlife protection authorities to promote information-sharing; and (8) working with national governments to ensure that communities have timely and effective support from national authorities to mitigate risks that communities may face when engaging in anti-poaching and anti-trafficking activities.