Concept
An endangered species recovery plan, also known as a species recovery plan, species action plan, species conservation action, or simply recovery plan, is a document describing the current status, threats and intended methods for increasing rare and endangered species population sizes. Recovery plans act as a foundation from which to build a conservation effort to preserve animals which are under threat of extinction. More than 320 species have died out and the world is continuing a rate of 1 species becoming extinct every two years. Climate change is also linked to several issues relating to extinct species and animals' quality of life. The United States Congress said in 1973 that endangered species "are of aesthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people." They therefore set laws to protect endangered species. Section 4(f) of the United States Endangered Species Act from 1973 directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce to develop and implement recovery plans to promote the conservation of endangered and threatened species. The Species Survival Commission's Specialist Groups of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has created Species Action Plans since at least the mid-1980s, which are used to outline the conservation strategies of species, normally between set dates. In June 2021, the IUCN produced their Global Species Action Plan (GSAP) Briefing Paper, to prepare for the introduction of the GSAP at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in September 2021. This plan "brings together an outline of the species conservation actions required to implement the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, with supporting tools and guidelines", and aims to reach targets set for 2030. Recovery plans set out the research and management actions necessary to stop the decline of, and support the recovery of, listed threatened species or threatened ecosystems. The aim of the plan is to maximise the long-term survival in the wild of a threatened species or ecosystem.