European zoos commit additional efforts to stop the loss of biodiversity
Antwerp, 20 September 2008, During the 25th annual conference of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), which took place in Antwerp Zoo, Belgium, from 16 to 20 September 2008, all EAZA member institutions were invited to sign the Countdown 2010 Declaration. By doing so, they acknowledged the threat of current biodiversity loss and promised to take any practical opportunity to stop it. The zoos reconfirmed the important role they play in conservation and education, and the value of partnerships with nature conservation organizations.
The signing ceremony was linked to the launch of the EAZA European Carnivore Campaign. This campaign runs from September 2008 to September 2009, focusing on the importance of Europe’s biodiversity and in particular its large carnivores.
Zoos and aquaria are vital partners in halting the loss of biodiversity.
Zoos reach hundreds of millions of people all over the world. Education – explaining the irreplaceable value of the entire biological system of the planet and all of its constituent components – is a powerful tool in raising the level of general awareness, thereby influencing people’s attitudes and behaviour towards biodiversity, local and global. Next to that, zoos and aquaria conserve and breed species threatened with extinction. And they run and support an increasing number of in situ conservation and education projects.
EAZA stimulates its members to sign Countdown 2010 Declaration individually, thereby showing their commitment to conservation of biodiversity. For more information you can visit
- www.eaza.net
- www.carnivorecampaign.eu
or contact Martijn Los, EAZA Executive Office, martijn.los@eaza.net and Hanneke Wijnja, ECNC, wijnja@ecnc.org
