'Love And Loss': EAZA Conservation Forum 2012

22-25 May 2012
Hosted by Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Vienna, Austria

The second EAZA Conservation Forum, hosted by Tiergarten Schönbrunn in Vienna, Austria, will take place at the newly renovated Tiergarten Orang.erie at the zoo. The three-day conference will be preceded by an EAZA Academy Workshop on 22 May.

Key themes for discussion

The Extinction Crisis in (Southeast) Asia: Asia is home to many of the charismatic mega species which are the  mainstays of our zoological collections including the Asian elephants and Indian rhinos, the orangutans and gibbons, the Asiatic lions and tigers and the hornbills, vultures and pheasants to name but a few. Sadly many of these species are confronting extinction in the wild due to a combination of deforestation, pollution and poaching. This session will discuss the issues leading to the Asian extinction crisis, the conservation actions currently underway in the region and what we in zoos can do to alleviate the situation. Presentations will range from a discussion of the conservation issues in (southeast) Asia to the EAZA IUCN/SSC Southeast Asia Campaign. Contributions are invited from field conservation experts conducting projects in the region as well as from zoos supporting/running programmes for (Southeast) Asian species.

Conservation Psychology: The Conservation psychology website defines this discipline as the scientific study of the reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature, with a particular focus on how to encourage conservation of the natural world. It looks at:

• How people behave toward nature (with the goal of creating durable behavior change at multiple levels and sustainable relationships); and/or,
• How people care about/value nature (with the goal of creating harmonious relationships and an environmental ethic)

1: Involving visitors, keepers, sponsors etc
In this first session on Conservation Psychology we will deal with Conservation Psychology at home with our visiting public and personnel. We will discuss the role of zoos in inspiring the conservation ethic in their visitors; the “Love not Loss” approach currently used by the IUCN. We would like to hear from psychologists who have worked with zoos as well as from zoo staff on their experiences in inspiring their visitors and stimulating their personnel (especially in these days of economic stringency).

2: Involving external stakeholders
In the second session on Conservation Psychology we will look at the way we can encourage a conservation ethic in local communities where we are supporting projects. We will be inviting contributions from people working in the field with communities as well as from zoos supporting and participating in such programmes.

European Conservation: Europe is our home and EAZA zoos are well positioned to be in the front line to encourage and support conservation in our own region. There are many species living in Europe which need and deserve our support. The EAZA European Carnivore Campaign was one step in this direction but Europe is home to more species than just carnivores and many of our colleagues, particularly those in eastern and southern Europe are involved in the conservation of their indigenous species. In this session we would like to hear from conservationists working in Europe on how they see the EAZA membership helping and supporting their work and we would like to hear from individual zoos about the programmes that they are working with and supporting.

Arid Lands: Deserts are among the harshest habitats on Earth and while at first sight they may seem inhospitable, as you look a little closer it is clear that the desert is teeming with life. However, even the hardy, adaptable species found in these environments need protection from threats such as encroaching development, hunting and invasive species. Currently there is an exemplary cooperative relationship between the EAZA and the AZA (Giraffe and) Antelope TAGs, the coordinators of the EEP and the SSP programmes for various desert antelopes and field conservationists working in the Saharan- Sahelo region. This relationship encompasses financial support as well as reintroduction and re-stocking programmes. In this session of the programme we will be inviting contributions from those working with these, and other desert, programmes who can tell us of the work currently in progress as well as plans for future developments.

Topic workshops: Each day during the forum we will dedicate on part of the day to small scale discussion workshops on various topics. Everyone is free to join which ever workshop they please although, in the interests of easy discussion, participation will be limited to a maximum of 25 persons per topic. The following workshop topics have been suggested. However if you have an idea for a workshop topic which you believe would be important for discussion please suggest it to us and we will see if we can include it.

The topics currently under consideration are:
1. How can you measure conservation success
2. How can you engage visitors and staff in conservation
3. How can we breathe new life into the EAZA conservation campaigns
4. Fund fund-raising ideas
5. How can we promote better engagement with the conservation database
6. Conservation: the role of TAGs

Poster session: Poster contributions are invited on any of the Themes or Topics or on your zoo’s conservation activities.

If you wish to submit a proposal to deliver a presentation or contribute a poster that relates to one of the themes, please download a template for abstract submissions, complete it and send it to Angela Glatston (a.glatston@rotterdamzoo.nl). The deadline for submissions is 30 March.

Draft Programme

Please see below a draft programme for the conference. A full programme will become available in the coming weeks.

	Tuesday 22 May	Wednesday 23 May	Thursday 24 May	Friday 25 May
AM	EAZA Academy Workshop	Plenary and Workshops	Plenary and Workshops	Plenary
PM				Zoo visit
Evening	Icebreaker	Aquarium visit	Poster session	Conference dinner