WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Wildlife Innovation and Longevity Driver (WILD) Act funds efforts to protect tigers, elephants, sea turtles, and other iconic species overseas and supports voluntary conservation efforts on private lands here at home. As the vehicle for the annual defense spending bill, the WILD Act has passed the House and is expected to pass the Senate and be signed into law.

“The WILD Act will help wildlife continue to thrive in a rapidly changing world,” said Mike Leahy, the National Wildlife Federation’s senior director of wildlife, hunting, and fishing policy. “The bill will help some of the world’s most beloved species — like elephants, tigers, and sea turtles — and it will benefit at-risk wildlife here at home. This bill shows us once again that there is broad, bipartisan support for proactive wildlife conservation.”

Specifically, the bill reauthorizes:

• The Partners for Fish and Wildlife program to incentivize landowners who provide habitat for migratory birds and threatened and endangered species;
• The Marine Turtle Conservation Act; and
• Multinational species conservation acts to reduce poaching, trafficking and habitat loss afflicting great apes, tigers, rhinoceros, sea turtles, and Asian and African elephants.

Read more about the original WILD Act here.