Proposal: Creation of Conservation Education Programs Isabella Garramone

Simulation Scenario Isabella Garramone ▫Small mammal keeper ▫Zoo educator Proposal to Capital District Zoo’s board of directors for inclusion of educational programs featuring conservation themes in the annual budget

Why Conserve? Biodiversity crisis Extinction rates are around 100 to 1,000 times greater than background levels 1 extinction now occurs every 20 minutes (Levin 2012)

Biodiversity In crisis largely because of the human footprint on the earth ▫Natural resources overexploited ▫Pollution contaminating the air, soil, water, etc. Many biodiversity hotspots located where rates of ecosystem loss and city development are high How to slow the rate of extinction?

Educational Opportunity Zoos and aquariums ▫600 million people ▫10% world’s population Botanical gardens ▫200 million people US attendance (Gibbs 310) “For the young people of the world’s cities, zoos and aquariums are often the first contact with nature and so you are the incubator of the conservationists of tomorrow” – Achim Steiner, Director, IUCN

Why are programs necessary? OSU - Having signage or displays is not enough to effectively teach visitors about conservation ▫Connecting ideas between displays

Why are programs necessary? Get people personally involved & actively participating ▫Outline the steps they can take to follow up on their new knowledge  Basic conservation actions  Volunteering ▫Behavioral changes may be minute, but multiplied over the millions of people who visit zoos, they can make an enormous difference.

Examples of Current Conservation Education Programs

Dallas Zoo Wide variety of educational programs “On the Catwalk” ▫Texas’ native cats “Frog club” ▫Citizen Science ▫Trains children and their parents in identifying frog calls and amphibian monitoring ▫Active participation in conservation research  Personal investment

Harris Center for Conservation Education Variety of programs for all ages, but their adult programs are very unique ▫Classes to enroll in ▫Discussion based learning ▫Complicated topics approached from different viewpoints Adults ▫Source of volunteers, donations

Relevance of Conservation Education World Zoo Conservation Strategy: “Education is an essential conservation task of zoos” Join the ranks of zoos with successful conservation education programs

Methods Highlight conservation work currently being done at the zoo ▫Adds relevance ▫Capitalize on efforts already invested in these projects ▫Get visitors to help with projects

How will this be accomplished? Employment of an additional part-time staff Internships Volunteers Funding ▫Asking for $3,000 for startup costs of materials

How will this benefit the zoo? Draw in more visitors School groups more attracted to zoo – conservation is interdisciplinary Community awareness of conservation work done at the zoo

Zoo’s Mission “To provide a recreational experience that fosters excellence in wildlife education and wildlife conservation so that present and future generations are inspired to understand, appreciate, and protect the fragile interdependence of all living things.”

Evaluation Surveys to determine the change in behavior and knowledge of participants Report back in two years on how well the programs are working ▫Will know the outcome of your investment

Recap Biodiversity crisis – extinction rates high largely because of human impacts Each year, 10% of the world’s population visits a zoo or aquarium Many zoos already use educational programs to teach about conservation

Recap Programs will draw in more visitors Will raising community awareness of the conservation work done at the zoo Behavioral changes that we inspire may be minute, but multiplied by the amount of people in the program, can really make a difference

Thank you