---
kind: "section"
citation: "16 U.S.C. § 6301"
title: "16"
title_heading: "Conservation"
number: "6301"
heading: "Findings and purposes"
release: "119-102"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/6301"
units:
  - "Chapter 82 — Great Ape Conservation"
---

# §6301. Findings and purposes

- (a) **Findings—** Congress finds that—
  - (1) [great ape](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4) populations have declined to the point that the long-term survival of the species in the wild is in serious jeopardy;
  - (2) the chimpanzee, gorilla, bonobo, orangutan, and gibbon are listed as endangered species under [section 1533 of this title](/usc/16/1533.md) and under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (27 UST 1087; TIAS 8249);
  - (3) because the challenges facing the [conservation](/usc/16/6302.md?p=2) of [great apes](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4) are so immense, the [resources](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=8) available to date have not been sufficient to cope with the continued loss of habitat due to human encroachment and logging and the consequent diminution of [great ape](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4) populations;
  - (4) because [great apes](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4) are flagship species for the [conservation](/usc/16/6302.md?p=2) of the tropical forest habitats in which they are found, [conservation](/usc/16/6302.md?p=2) of [great apes](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4) provides benefits to numerous other species of wildlife, including many other endangered species;
  - (5) among the threats to [great apes](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4), in [addition](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-2) to habitat loss, are population fragmentation, hunting for the bushmeat trade, live capture, and exposure to emerging or introduced diseases;
  - (6) [great apes](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4) are important components of the ecosystems they inhabit, and studies of their wild populations have provided important biological insights;
  - (7) although subsistence hunting of tropical forest animals has occurred for hundreds of years at a sustainable level, the tremendous increase in the commercial trade of tropical forest species is detrimental to the future of these species; and
  - (8) the reduction, removal, or other effective addressing of the threats to the long-term viability of populations of [great apes](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4) in the wild will require the joint commitment and effort of countries that have within their boundaries any part of the range of [great apes](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4), the United States and other countries, and the private sector.
- (b) **Purposes—** The purposes of this chapter are—
  - (1) to sustain viable populations of [great apes](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4) in the wild; and
  - (2) to assist in the [conservation](/usc/16/6302.md?p=2) and protection of [great apes](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4) by supporting [conservation](/usc/16/6302.md?p=2) [programs](/usc/16/460ss–6.md?p=1) of countries in which populations of [great apes](/usc/16/6302.md?p=4) are located and by supporting the [CITES](/usc/16/6302.md?p=1) Secretariat.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 106–411, § 2, Nov. 1, 2000, 114 Stat. 1789.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Short Title

Pub. L. 106–411, § 1, Nov. 1, 2000, 114 Stat. 1789, provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000’.”