Data from: Raising the bar: recovery ambition for species at risk in canada and the US

Routinely crossing international borders and/or persisting in populations
across multiple countries, species are commonly subject to a patchwork of
endangered species legislation. Canada and the United States share
numerous endangered species; their respective acts, the Species at Risk
Act (SARA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), require documents that
outline requirements for species recovery. Although there are many
priorities for improving endangered species legislation effectiveness,
species recovery goals are a crucial component. We compared recovery goal
quality, as measured by goal quantitativeness and ambition, for species
listed under SARA and ESA. By comparing across ESA and SARA, the intent of
the study was to identify differences and similarities that could support
the development of stronger species’ recovery goals under both
legislations. Our results indicated that: (1) overall, only 38% of
recovery goals were quantitative, 41% had high ambition, and 26% were both
quantitative and high ambition; (2) recovery goals had higher
quantitativeness and ambition under ESA than SARA; (3) recovery goals for
endangered species had higher ambition than threatened species under ESA
and SARA, and; (4) no recovery goal aimed to restore populations to
historic levels. Combined, these findings provide guidance to strengthen
recovery goals and improve subsequent conservation outcomes. In
particular, species at risk planners should seek to attain higher recovery
goal ambition, particularly for SARA-listed species, and include
quantitative recovery goals wherever possible.