EAZA21+ is an internal campaign for EAZA Members, launched on 21 September 2021 for two years. It is helping us discover the opportunities that come with the new Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework in which modern zoos and aquariums and organisations like EAZA have an important role to play.
What is it about?
In 2021, EAZA Members confirmed their high ambitions by adopting EAZA’s new vision statement: “Progressive zoos and aquariums saving species together with you.”
This ambition integrates the EAZA community in the global puzzle of biodiversity conservation. This puzzle is already difficult to navigate – and now its pieces are changing, with the post-2020 biodiversity framework. This new framework will be adopted at the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) summit in Kunming in May 2022, as a last-minute push to stop the decline of biodiversity and to restore harmony between people and nature by 2050.
Previous strategies to stop biodiversity loss have failed to reach their global targets. The post-2020 plan promises to be different: it addresses not only the biological problem but also its social and economic causes and aspects. It also aligns all other relevant actions so that they support the common goal: the global conventions (CBD, CITES, CMS) and regional initiatives such as EU’s tools for environmental protection (EU Biodiversity Strategy, Natura 2000, LIFE funds). These are different international biodiversity frameworks, in which key stakeholders such as the IUCN have been working on the implementation.
If this post-2020 plan is to succeed, everyone will need to contribute: all citizens and all sectors of the economy and society, and this includes modern zoos and aquariums as well as NGOs like EAZA. In this campaign, we want to define the role of our community in the new big global puzzle.
What does this mean for you?
From all the pieces of the post-2020 puzzle, we have picked three that are the most relevant to the work of EAZA and its Members:
The campaign will give us the opportunity and space to explore these topics together and discuss some principal questions:
At the end of the campaign, you – the staff in EAZA Membership – should have many practical ideas for implementation in the coming years and decades, so that you can profit from the opportunities of the global and European frameworks and goals. This will allow the EAZA community to make the biggest possible contribution to the ultimate goal of “saving species together”.
What will the campaign look like?
Unlike the previous campaigns, EAZA21+ doesn’t focus on a public-facing element. It is internal and its activities will take place among and for EAZA Members, with external experts joining the dialogue.
The main activities will be webinars and workshops, virtual and face-to-face. They will be relevant to many colleagues, whether you are in charge of zoo and aquarium management, conservation, collection planning, education, research, communications, PR, marketing or other areas!
At the end of the campaign, the outcomes of all these meetings and discussions will be captured in toolkits and tutorials that you will be able to use in your daily work for conservation.
To download your two-page guide to EAZA21+, click on the available versions: English, German or Italian!
Why EAZA21+?
The name was chosen because the campaign:
Stories: EAZA and Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation
The global theme for the World Wildlife Day on 3 March 2023 is "Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation". Since partnerships are central to the work of EAZA and our Members, and to the EAZA21+ campaign, we are showcasing their variety in this mini-series.
Episode #3: Project consortia with external funding (20 February)
Conservation is supported by many funding opportunities, and teaming up with the right partners is the first step to success. This story showcases several consortia in which EAZA Members won grants from the EU LIFE programme. Was there a secret to their success? Find out here:
Episode #2: Two decades of EAZA Conservation Campaigns (8 February)
Since 2000, fifteen EAZA Conservation Campaigns have raised more than 5.6 million Euro, supported more than 140 conservation projects, and inspired millions of zoo and aquarium visitors. At the same time, they have forged various partnerships that last well beyond the duration of each campaign. Read more in the story below!
Episode #1: Conservation with(out) borders (31 January)
We begin with our flagship example of partnerships: the EEPs – EAZA Ex Situ Programmes. For over three decades, they have been the framework in which EAZA Members work together to maintain healthy populations of healthy individuals. And why with(out) borders? Find out here!
21 September 2021 |
Launch, with keynote talk by Jon Paul Rodríguez, Chair of IUCN Species Survival Commission |
November – December 2021 |
Member survey to refine the campaign actions. |
January 2022 – September 2023 |
Actual campaign actions for Members
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October – December 2023 |
Evaluation, production of tutorials and toolkits for Members |
April 2024 |
Report for EAZA Directors’ Days |
The following EAZA Member institutions have formally signed up to EAZA21+. If your institution isn't among them yet, you will find the declaration in the next section below!
Sign up as an individual participant
Do you work at an EAZA Member organisation? Would you like to receive campaign updates, invitations to webinars and workshops, and links to useful resources straight into your mailbox? Please fill in this short personal registration form!
Sign up your organisation
If you represent an EAZA Member organisation, then please:
EAZA21+ is open to all EAZA Members and Candidates, in all membership categories.
Core team
The concept is being developed in collaboration with:
Big thanks to everyone who is dedicating their time to this project!