The role of zoos in biodiversity conservation

- Report on a side-event of the Green Week 2006 -

The contribution of zoos for nature and biodiversity protection is often neglected in the political debate about these issues. Nevertheless, zoos play an important role by raising people's awareness for the need to protect species and their habitats. This importance was recognised by the 1992 UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which led to the World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategy, as well as in European legislation. Even though zoos only can give cover to only few individual animals, their educational value is considerable. "Zoo animals are ambassadors for their conspecifics in the wild and can motivate people to support the protection of their habitats", said Prof. Gunther Nogge, past chairman of the EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS AND AQUARIA (EAZA), during a side-event of the Green Week on 31 May 2006. EAZA is a pan-European NGO and member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. It was established in 1988 and currently has almost 300 members – zoos and aquaria – from 34 European countries. EAZA guides its members in the fields of conservation, research, and education and coordinates the European Breeding of Endangered Species Programmes, by which self-sustaining populations of different endangered species could be established. In some cases, zoo animals could be reintroduced into their natural habitats where they had become extinct. EAZA also runs Europe-wide conservation awareness-raising campaigns. One example was the bushmeat campaign, which led to a resolution adopted by the European Parliament to take measures to stop the bushmeat trade. Zoos, which derived from the menageries of the 18th and 19th century, have evolved to serve in multiple ways as conservation centres. As such they address sustainable relationships of humankind and nature, explain the values of ecosystems and the necessity of conserving biological diversity, and cooperate within the world's zoo network and with other organisations. Realistic imitations of habitats involve zoo visitors in the environmental circumstances of the animals – experiences, which are conductive to favourable reception by visitors of strong conservation messages. But zoos provide also recreation to visitors, participate in research, and promote nature conservation in natural habitats. Cologne Zoo, for example, actively supports nature conservation activities in India, Madagascar, Peru, Zambia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, as Theo Pagel, curator at Cologne Zoo, pointed out to the audience. The event was attended among others by Barry Gardiner, UK Minister for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity, by researchers, and Commission officials. "Zoos do play an important role for biodiversity conservation on a European and global scale", concluded Ladislav Miko, Director for Nature Protection at DG Environment of the European Commission. Their possible contribution should therefore be considered when addressing the 2010 target of halting the loss of biodiversity in Europe.