ZSL Conservation Review Review Conservation ZSL 2012 The Zoological Society of London Registered Charity in England and Wales: no 208728 Regent’s Park London NW1 4RY and at: ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Dunstable Bedfordshire LU6 2LF zsl.org For a closer look at ZSL’s work, look out for our other annual publications at zsl.org/about-us/annual-reports CONSERVATION REVIEW 2012 ZSL Living Conservation: ZSL Institute of Zoology The Year in Review 2012 Review 2012/13 Our overview of the year, featuring our All our research activities, zoos, fieldwork, science, engagement collaborations, publications and activities and ways to get involved. funding in one yearly report. Our vision: A world where animals are valued, and their conservation assured Our mission: To promote and achieve the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats 2 ZSL CONSERVATION REVIEW 2013 ZSL CONSERVATION REVIEW / WElcOME Welcome The President and Director General of ZSL introduce our Conservation Review 2012 and look back on some of the year’s highlights. The Zoological Society of London has committed I am proud to welcome you to our third annual itself to the worldwide conservation of animals and Conservation Review. This important document both their habitats since 1826. Over this time, the threats celebrates our successes in conservation, and tracks to biodiversity have increased alarmingly, with rates our progress towards achieving our 2026 targets. of habitat loss and species extinction sky-rocketing. By describing what success would look like for In 2012, ZSL has continued its efforts to meet the ZSL, we are holding ourselves accountable to our challenge of protecting endangered species, raising mission and to the species and landscapes that we awareness of the threats they face, and providing novel strategies and strive to save. We achieve this through influencing global policy and techniques for ensuring their survival. practice, ensuring that all our actions are informed by cutting-edge The Society has set itself five ambitious targets to be achieved by scientific research.T his approach gives our funders and partners added 2026, its 200th anniversary. These targets are described in detail later confidence in our project goals and outcomes, and positions ZSL as the in this review (see page 14), but range from protecting habitats and pre-eminent science-based conservation organisation in the world. species to ensuring best practice for natural resource use and engaging The launch of Tiger Territory in 2013 at ZSL London Zoo will turn people in the conservation of the natural world. In 2012, ZSL took the public’s gaze to our groundbreaking tiger protection initiatives, significant steps towards achieving these goals, including the release and underlines the role of our world-class zoos in supporting and of the Living Planet Report, Spineless: the status and trends of the world’s highlighting our conservation work in the field. Tiger Territory will invertebrates, and Priceless or Worthless? The world’s most-threatened draw attention to our work protecting tiger strongholds, which in species. These reports reached a global audience, educating new 2012 included hosting a tiger conflict training workshop in Indonesia, audiences about the value of nature and inspiring them to protect elements of which were delivered by vets from ZSL London Zoo; the it. ZSL scientists also participated in two crucial research trips to the launch of our online Sustainable Palm Oil Platform; and our poacher- Chagos Archipelago – the world’s largest fully protected marine fighting technology in Russia, known as Forest Eyes. In addition, the reserve, which the Society helped establish in 2010 – and a fact- zoos play an important role in raising money for our fieldwork – for finding mission to Panama to research the pygmy sloth. example, our successful EDGE gala dinner with Synchronicity Earth, In last year’s review I noted that 2012 would be a year of and our ‘Running out of space, running out of time’ gala dinner with challenges and opportunities for the global conservation Zeitz Foundation Ambassador Usain Bolt. community. I am proud to report that the ZSL team has achieved From species to ecosystems, ZSL is committed to saving the world’s some remarkable results over the past 12 months – some of most precious creatures and places – work that is only possible due which are featured in the following pages. I give my congratulations to the generous support of our donors and partners. Your continued to all the staff involved. I look forward to celebrating their support, coupled with the dedication of our staff, ensures that we are continued success in 2013. well placed to continue this work through 2013 and beyond. Professor Sir Patrick Bateson FRS Ralph Armond President, Zoological Society of London Director General, Zoological Society of London ZSL CONSERVATION REVIEW 2012 3 ZSL CONSERVATION REVIEW / HUB COUNTRIES 1 Above: Chinese pangolin, one of our EDGE focal species Our hub countries With projects in more than 50 countries, ZSL’s conservation work is truly international in scope. Here we take a look at our 11 key hubs of activity – for a full list of projects, turn to page 36. UNITED KINGDOM CAMEROON KENYA 1. UNITED KINGDOM habitat. Our Wildlife Wood Project 4. KENYA Here, we assist with desert As well as educating the public is helping logging companies to ZSL has a long history of monitoring, the reintroduction through our world-leading zoos adopt low-impact practices and working in Kenya, and over of species, training and capacity- at London and Whipsnade, we improve wildlife management in the next year we will be building (see page 12). are committed to protecting their concessions (see page 24). testing some of our innovative European wildlife by shaping technological tools in the 6. BANGLADESH Marine Protected Areas policy 3. EQUATORIAL Tsavo West National Park. The Sundarbans – the world’s (see page 11), carrying out GUINEA For more on this cutting-edge largest mangrove forest – are conservation breeding (see page ZSL works with industry and the work, see page 17. home to the endangered Royal 21) and monitoring threatened government in Equatorial Guinea Bengal Tiger. We are working to species such as eels (see page 28). to address bushmeat hunting 5. SAUDI ARABIA understand mangrove forests and and the wildlife trade, work that Our collaboration with the their value as a source of natural 2. CAMEROON in 2012 resulted in the rescue King Khalid Wildlife Research capital (see pages 22 and 23), Timber exploitation in the vast and relocation of a young gorilla Centre was one of ZSL’s earliest which will help us protect one Congo Basin is destroying precious (see page 20). overseas conservation projects. of the tigers’ last strongholds. 4 ZSL CONSERVATION REVIEW 2012 8 7 5 9 6 11 2 3 4 10 BANGLADESH NEPAL MONGOLIA THAILAND INDONESIA PHILIPPINES 7. NEPAL tools to protect Mongolia’s conflict.W ith our partners, the Biodiversity and Oil Palm Project Our work in Nepal centres unique and fragile ecosystem. Elephant Conservation Network, (see page 25). on protecting the greater Through our Steppe Forward we work to restore the forest one-horned rhino in Chitwan programme, we run a summer habitat of the elephants and 11. PHILIPPINES National Park. Poaching rates field course to educate and to reduce local inhabitants’ ZSL co-founded Project have dropped significantly inspire future conservation impact on the ecosystem. Seahorse in 1996 and has since we introduced SMART leaders. Find out more on since helped to establish patrolling (see page 8) and page 28. 10. INDONESIA 34 ‘no-take’ Marine Protected trained local rangers in Indonesia is a stronghold Areas in the Philippines. the technique. 9. THAILAND for the critically endangered Our other highly successful Our work to protect the Sumatran tiger. Focal projects include Net-Works 8. MONGOLIA Asian elephant in the projects for ZSL in the (see page 25) and our ZSL is committed to providing Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary area include the Berbak Community-Based local and international in western Thailand focuses Carbon Value Initiative Mangrove Restoration conservationists with the on tackling human-elephant (see page 23) and our project (see page 22). ZSL CONSERVATION REVIEW 2012 5 Introduction ZSL’s Conservation Programmes Director, Professor Jonathan Baillie, reviews the successes of 2012 and outlines our vision for the future. Priceless or Worthless? – a book by ZSL and the We also had an extremely successful year in the field, including International Union for the Conservation of Nature the completion of a large-scale camera trapping initiative in Mongolia (IUCN) Species Survival Commission — was launched and a training course in Kenya for our new EDGE fellows (see page 27). at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in 2012 Advancing our marine conservation efforts, ZSL scientists participated (see page 18). It definitely made an impact, being the in two major expeditions to Chagos (see page 11), and achieved our main news story of the Congress with press coverage target of restoring 107.8 hectares of mangroves in the Philippines reaching more than 70 million people in 113 (see page 22). Our work to protect top predators and their habitats countries. Although a major objective of the book was to highlight was rewarded by evidence of improved tiger breeding in the Russian the world’s 100 most-threatened species and the actions needed to Far East, and by our partner WildTeam averting the killing of tigers protect them, it was also intended to spark debate about the value in the Bangladesh Sundabarns. In addition, our project in Berbak, society places on the rest of the planet’s life. Do we only value Indonesia, was recognised by the Indonesian government as species that are useful to us, or do we value all forms of an official REDD+ project (see page 23).