Annual Report
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1988—2013 Annual Report PICTURE KATE Nordens Ark GABOR Nordens Ark lies on Åby manor beside the Åby fjord, 20 km from Smögen and Kungshamn on route 171, about 120 km north of Gothenburg. The manor was mentioned as early as the 1300s, but rock carvings and ancient remains show that the farm has roots much further back. The present buildings date mainly from the 1700s and 1800s. Nordens Ark Foundation is a non-profit foundation which is responsible for Nordens Ark. Nordens Ark Foundation owns Åby manor, which covers 400 hectares. Through its activities, Nordens Ark Foundation seeks to promote biological diversity principally by: •• contributing to the conservation of endangered species by controlled breeding, and supporting wild animal populations in their natural habitats through various support measures. •• conducting research and studies of the animals at the park, contributing to an increased understanding of animals and promoting animal survival in the wild. •• acting as an educational resource at all levels from pre-school to colleges and universities. For the past 25 years, Nordens Ark •• being accessible to the public, thereby increasing public interest has worked wisely and determinedly in and knowledge of conservation work. for the good of animals and has “achieved astonishing results. I am proud that, as the Ark’s patron, I have been able to follow this valuable work with endangered animals, and I look forward to continuing to do so.” H.R.H. CROWN PRINCESS VICTORIA is Nordens Ark’s patron. Nordens Ark’s lands extend over 400 hectares. Aerial photo of Åby manor. Wetlands Zoological Park Åby fjord Care centre The Ecopark Rock carvings Åby Manor The Farm Nordens Ark Hotel 25 years with NORDENS ARK Contents View of the entrance to Åby manor 1988. Anniversary: Twenty-five years with Nordens Ark •• 1 Highlights 1988–2012 •• 4 The year that’s gone – a review •• 28 Development of Wolverine EEP 2013 •• 33 Annual Report 2013 Administration Report •• 36 Income Statement •• 39 Balance Sheet •• 40 Cash Flow Analysis •• 41 Accounting and Valuation Principles •• 42 Audit Report •• 46 Board of Directors, Auditors and Staff 2013 •• 48 Purchase of Åby manor 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Our Annual Reports have over the years become much appreciated and informative publications. 1992 2000 2007 2010 2012 An armful of newly hatched peregrine falcons. Research college in the newly built auditorium at Annedal, An Amur leopard is examined in the new veterinary 2003. clinic, 2005. Nordens Ark Hotel Annedal is for staff, Construction of the Farm opens veterinarians and training 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Animal keepers cut up meat for Inauguration of the Wetlands, Unveiling of the standing stone Group guided tours are an important part the predators in the feed kitchen. 2008. at the entrance, 2009. of our activities. 55 Turnover Million kronor 50 Staff Number of employees 93,175 Visitors Annual total How Nordens Ark developed — in numbers The business has expanded in every way since it began in 1988 — except in the number of visitors, which has remained at about 100,000 a year. Our activities are 50 per cent funded through donations, gifts, funds, sponsors, bequests and Tiger house adoptions. Twenty-five per cent of the remaining funding comes from admission charges, education, forestry and agriculture, and 25 per cent from the hotel’s shop and restaurant. Wetlands The standing stone Acquisitions and construction house at the roundabout 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Animal collection, number of species 17 Mammals 22 Native breeds 14 Birds 12 Reptiles 23 Amphibians 1 Fish 2 Insects 1 Nordens Ark − a part of Åby manor’s long 25 years history with 1683 Margareta Hvitfeldt bequeaths the manor for the benefit of young boys wishing to study at Gothenburg Nordens Ark grammar school. The foundations were laid for Hvitfeldtska scholarship On an autumn evening in 1996, I was institution which would later become sitting in a van heading south from Hvitfeldtska upper secondary school. Gdansk on Poland’s Baltic coast. We were on our way to Kampinoski National Park 1729 Åby manor house is built. just outside Warsaw. In the back of the 1975 Åby manor is sold to van were three lynxes in transport cages. Gothenburg and Bohus County They were the first mammals to leave Agricultural Society, which re-equips the Nordens Ark for a life of freedom – a farm and demolishes some of the older major event for me. buildings such as a pigsty and a barn Over the years we have delivered more near the entrance. The farm is listed as of historical interest. The Agricultural lynxes to Kampinoski, and today they Society takes on a foreman and a tenant have a small but viable population of Lena M Lindén, MD farmer to look after the grounds. On lynxes in Kampinoski. Even Lithuania has leopard, was so invisible that I became a parts of the land, so-called ‘experimental received lynxes from Nordens Ark. We little anxious. “King attacked by escaped gardens’ are established. have also released 24 European wildcats leopard” wasn’t exactly the headline I in Germany, more than 100 lesser white- 1986 The Agricultural Society looks had in mind for the big day! That didn’t fronted geese in Norway and Sweden, into ways of expanding the manor’s happen, of course. But the early years activities. Pege Schelander, from Bosam 170 peregrine falcons in central Sweden were to prove challenging. We didn’t municipal association, and Hans-Ove and almost 15,000 green toads in various call ourselves a zoo, because we didn’t Larsson from Skansen propose setting parts of southern Sweden. Among others. want to disappoint our visitors. We were up a facility to save and preserve When it comes to summing up endangered animals, modelled on aware that we couldn’t offer the same Nordens Ark’s first quarter-century, there Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust. experiences as the great zoos elsewhere. are no figures that are more important Still, many visitors were disappointed. 1987 A working group is formed than these. There were far fewer than we hoped with representatives from the I remember every minute of that for, and that, of course, led to financial Agricultural Society, Bosam and Sotenäs June day in 1989 when King Carl XVI troubles. municipality, as well as Hans-Ove Gustaf flew in by helicopter to inaugurate Larsson. Lena M Lindén is engaged by I’m happy and proud that, despite all the park. We could have done with the Bosam, funded by Bohus county council, the difficulties, we kept steadfastly to the helicopter when we went off into the park to investigate the feasibility of the Foundation’s guiding principle – working project. to look for the animals, because on foot to save and protect endangered animals. we saw almost nothing. The enclosures The breakthrough did eventually come. were huge and full of lush foliage, and the Today, I believe that everyone who animals hadn’t yet settled into their new visits Nordens Ark is rewarded with environments. They stayed out of sight. thrilling animal encounters. Yet things To be honest, there weren’t that many are pretty much as they were on that of them. Our main feature, the snow inauguration day. The best of what we do is not something you can see. It happens away from the enclosures, often far from Nordens Ark. Offspring from our lynxes roam free in Poland. In Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, we finance fieldwork that is providing a unique insight into the life of the snow leopard – knowledge that is vital if we are to halt the species’ decline. In the Russian Far East, we are working with the WWF to improve conditions for the world’s Åby manor house contains many treasures, largest feline, the Amur tiger (also known such as this wallpaper with a Chinese theme as the Siberian tiger). By training and from 1779. Above a bottle of medicine from equipping rangers, we have helped to the drugstore of Håby. PICTURES TOM SVENSSON reduce poaching of tiger prey in the region, which in just a few years has resulted in tiger numbers increasing. Out on the Sotenäs peninsula, not so far from Nordens Ark, we’re working to re- establish rock pools where the threatened This intension to keep only Åbyhällen at Nordens Ark lies on a sloping natterjack toad spawns. We don’t breed endangered species in need for help has rock face and encompasses more than 100 rock carvings depicting animals, boats, natterjack toads at Nordens Ark, and if led us to phase out some of our species. people and cup marks, as well as animal our efforts in the field prove successful, One example is the Rocky Mountain tracks thought to be the paw prints of perhaps that will never be necessary. If so, goat, which has a thriving population wolves. that would be another step in the right in the mountains of North America and PICTURE TOM SVENSSON direction. therefore doesn’t need to be kept captive for breeding purposes. More importantly, we have an enthusiastic crew and we’re Nordens Ark has a vision our vision has guided our work with holding fast to our course! This was set out clearly for the first time other species.