From Amsterdam to Accra: ARTIS Zoo Sponsors WAPCA’s Species360 Membership
- By Ovahiwa Thodi
Through our Conservation Connections program, ARTIS Zoo is supporting West African Primate Conservation Action’s work to protect endangered primates in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
We are pleased to welcome West African Primate Conservation Action (WAPCA) as a new Species360 member, sponsored by ARTIS Zoo in Amsterdam through our Conservation Connections program. Launched last year, Conservation Connections allows our members to sponsor Species360 membership for their conservation partners at a discounted rate. Through this program, we hope to reach more organizations caring for animals ex situ, so that their important work can both benefit from standardized data collection as well as contribute aggregated species data to our global network.
The Upper Guinean rainforest is one of Africa’s most biologically diverse ecosystems, home to more than a quarter of the continent’s mammals, including more than 20 primate species. However, logging and unsustainable land use have reduced the forest to around 15% of its original size, threatening the survival of its primates. In response, WAPCA works to protect endangered primates in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire through a range of programs, from habitat protection to organic agriculture and education campaigns.
ARTIS Zoo has a long-standing relationship with WAPCA, contributing each year to the research and conservation work the organization coordinates in Côte d’Ivoire’s Taï National Park. The two also work together through the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) Ex situ Programme (EEP), which connects European zoos with WAPCA’s centres in their efforts to protect endangered West African primates. Sponsoring their Species360 membership builds on this partnership, helping ensure the animals in their care are well documented. As Tjerk ter Meulen, Manager of the Living Collection at ARTIS and Chair of its Conservation Committee, explains:
There are, of course, many ways to contribute to species conservation, but maintaining accurate records of managed animals is fundamental to any conservation programme. The collaboration between the EEP and WAPCA is unique because it has resulted in the actual exchange of animals between EAZA zoos and the two WAPCA centres
Tjerk ter Meulen – Manager Living Collection, ARTIS Zoo
With their new access to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), WAPCA will be able to exchange knowledge with more than 20,000 animal care professionals across a global network. They will also have access to the world’s most comprehensive database of knowledge on animals in human care, covering more than 42 million animals across over 34,000 taxa, which we hope will support their work in caring for and managing West Africa’s endangered primates. In turn, their records will add valuable knowledge to our global community.
Conservation Connections shows what becomes possible when our members and their conservation partners work together. We would like to extend a warm welcome to WAPCA and a sincere thank you to ARTIS Zoo for their support.
Get involved
If your institution would like to sponsor a conservation partner’s Species360 membership, please contact our Global Member Development team at Membership@species360.org.
