Mission
Counteracting the mass extinction of species with targeted conservation breeding - that is the mission of Citizen Conservation. The clock is ticking. Everyone can join in and make a tangible contribution.
Mission
Counteracting the mass extinction of species with targeted conservation breeding - that is the mission of Citizen Conservation. The clock is ticking. Everyone can join in and make a tangible contribution.
In the stranglehold of the dual crisis
Loss of forests and wetlands, climate crisis, population growth, urban sprawl, pollution, overhunting, invasive species – these are by no means all the reasons why more and more animal and plant species are threatened with extinction or are already extinct. We are in the midst of the greatest mass extinction in the history of the earth since the end of the dinosaurs. Humans are to blame.
The United Nations World Biodiversity Council warns that over a million species could disappear forever in the coming decades. Together with global warming, the biodiversity crisis is the greatest threat to life on the planet – and therefore also to humanity.
Animal husbandry saves species
We will no longer be able to save many species in nature. Because the means and will to protect their habitats are lacking, because climate change is progressing too quickly, because the number of surviving animals of some species is already too low. But giving up is not an option! Zoological institutions around the world have done pioneering work in recent decades and saved dozens of species from extinction through conservation breeding – from the European Bison to the Spix’s Macaw, from the Scimitar-horned Oryx to the Przwalski’s Horse. So it works!
If we want to set something in motion, we need a movement!
Everyone can make a tangible contribution
But zoos alone are unable to cope with this task. The number of endangered species is too great. But civil society can help. Thousands of dedicated private animal keepers have accumulated enormous knowledge about a wide variety of species and are willing to donate their time and skills to the cause of species conservation. We simply cannot afford to do without the capacities of private breeders when it comes to saving species. However, there has been a lack of joint efforts, coordination and cooperation between institutional and private animal keepers. Citizen Conservation has set out to change this.
Find out how you can become a CC participant.
Many species can only survive if we manage to establish stable and healthy populations early on through captive breeding.
Insights into the way animals live are key to understanding ecosystems and implementing effective measures to conserve species.
The existing zoological institutions do not have enough capacity to meet the ever growing need for coordinated breeding programs.
Science and civil society – joining forces
Citizen Conservation is a network of professional and private animal keepers. Breeding programmes managed according to the latest scientific knowledge meet the willingness of people to actively participate in the conservation of biodiversity. Citizen Conservation guides, inspires and coordinates – and thus brings together everyone’s expertise to make a tangible contribution to the preservation of biodiversity. Every frog, fish or reptile species saved is worth the effort!