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Chester Zoo reveals 'bold' plan to tackle extinctions

Chester Zoo Chester Zoo employee teaching studentsChester Zoo
The plan will "empower 10 million people to live more sustainably", a spokeswoman said

Chester Zoo's "bold" 10-year plan to combat wildlife extinction will see it train 5,000 conservationists and improve more than 600,000 acres of habitat, it has revealed.

The charity's Conservation Masterplan also aims to stop the decline of 200 threatened species by 2031.

Science director Dr Simon Dowell said the plan was "what conservation in the 21st Century looks like".

In February, the zoo said its "vital" work had been financially hit by Covid.

Chester Zoo Sarah Roffe, Team Manager of giraffes at Chester Zoo, helps protect one of the last remaining populations of Rothschild's giraffe in Kidepo Valley National Park, UgandaChester Zoo
The zoo intends to target areas in Uganda, Nigeria, Gabon, the Philippines and Indonesia

A spokeswoman said the new plan would encourage conservation breeding of 150 species and "empower 10 million people to live more sustainably".

She said the new conservation work will take place across the UK, Europe, Central and South America, Africa and Asia, and target areas of Uganda, Nigeria, Gabon, the Philippines and Indonesia.

She said the plan, which also "sets out a path for the zoo to achieve carbon net zero and zero waste in its operations by 2030", would draw on the charity's "decades of experience of working with wildlife... and its expertise in science and conservation".

She added that the amount of money dedicated to the plan would depend on how much money the zoo raises through donations and tickets sales.

Chester Zoo Chester Zoo conservationists Gerardo Garcia and Adam Bland work with nuns at a Mexican monastery to help save a rare species of salamander from extinctionChester Zoo
The zoo already works with nuns at a Mexican monastery to help save a rare species of salamander

In February, the charity revealed the Covid-19 pandemic had led to a £10m loss, which had put many of its projects on hold.

The zoo's chief executive Jamie Christon said these were "undeniably challenging times" to be embarking on the plan, but it could not wait.

"The pandemic has focused our minds and our precious resources on what really matters," he said.

"Conservation simply cannot wait. The time for action, is now. If we act quickly, we can begin to reverse the decline and put it right."

Dr Dowell said the planet "cannot go on losing species at the rate we are" and the plan was the zoo's "statement of intent".

"It's a bold, clear set of targets - a roadmap for how we're going to deliver real conservation impact over the next decade," he added.

"This is what conservation in the 21st century looks like."

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