“A last chance saloon for the natural world as we know it”

We have joined a host of other leading wildlife conservation charities, organisations and world-renowned institutions in a global movement initiated by the European Commission to highlight the urgent need to protect our natural environment.

The global coalition, United for Biodiversity, is uniting the world’s botanic gardens, zoos, aquariums, research centres, universities, national parks and museums to amplify their voices in support of nature and inspire urgent action for the planet.

It comes ahead of what our conservation science experts have labelled “a last chance saloon for the natural world as we know it” as world leaders prepare to meet at global summits on biodiversity and climate change later this year.

The COP15 (the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties) United Nations Biodiversity Conference is set to take place in Kunming, China in October at which governments from around the world will look to agree a new set of goals for nature for the next decade. This will be swiftly followed by the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, being held in Glasgow, where targets for the climate will be agreed. The decisions taken at these two summits, at this crucial time for the global environment, will determine the future of the planet for generations to come.

“The world is facing its greatest threat since the start of humankind – a global biodiversity crisis triggered by human disruption to nature and the destruction of habitats. The rate of extinction this is causing is unprecedented and is being accelerated by the same processes that are causing climate change.

“We recently launched our Conservation Masterplan – an ambitious plan committed to influencing global policy to enhance biodiversity and fight the world’s climate and conservation emergencies. Now, we’re joining the global coalition United for Biodiversity, adding our voice to a common pledge that world leaders simply must take note of ahead of the forthcoming COP15 and COP26 summits. It is not an exaggeration to say these summits are a last chance saloon for the natural world as we know it. The decisions made will have permanent ramifications for our planet.”

We’re a registered conservation and education charity and the UK’s most popular zoo gearing up to celebrate our 90^th anniversary later this year. We support field conservation around the world as well as being a leading centre for scientific research and play a vital role in inspiring the conservationists of the future through our extensive educational programmes.

As an official member of United for Biodiversity, we’re now calling on our partners, as well as institutions from around the UK and worldwide, to join the movement and add their own voices for nature.

More than 200 institutions from 47 countries and 39 organisations already support the coalition with the UK currently the fourth most represented. Thirteen members are now part of movement, including Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, National Museum Wales, RZSS Highland Wildlife Park and Edinburgh Zoo.

Any institutions interested in signing up can do so by contacting: ec-biodiversity-coalition@ec.europa.eu

For more information on the coalition, visit the official website: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/coalition/index_en.htm