Iwokrama Develops Model Partnership for Conservation with Jacksonville Zoo

15 April 2004

Guyana has a rich history of wildlife research, conservation and management. In their heyday, the Guyana Zoo, Guyana Museum, and the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society (now the Guyana Society Collection) were considered centres of excellence for wildlife research and management. From the 1800's Guyanese animals were collected for zoos in Europe and North America, and international conservationists and scientists, including Gerald Durrell and David Attenborough, brought attention to Guyana's wildlife through many books and films. However, during the 1970's Guyana disappeared off the radar screen of wildlife research, conservation and management.

International interest in Guyana's wildlife has undergone a revival in the last ten years and organisations like Iwokrama and the Jacksonville Zoological Gardens are at the forefront of that revival. Guyana's forests are now recognized by Conservation International and the World Resources Institute as "frontier forests" and Guyana's wetlands are recognized as a WWF Global 200 Ecosystem. Additionally, "The Jeff Corwin Experience" and "O'Shea's Big Adventure", both series on television's Animal Planet, have had episodes on Guyana in the last two years. Iwokrama and Jacksonville Zoo are proactively seeking to establish new relationships between Guyana and other organisations, especially North American zoos.

One of the educational displays about Guyana & Iwokrama at the Jacksonville Zoo's "Range of the Jaguar"

Zoos in general are increasingly interested in developing effective tropical wildlife conservation, or "in-situ", programmes in developing nations. The major mechanism for developing an effective in-situ conservation program is through institutional partnerships.

A few successful zoos have developed such partnerships and adopted long-term interventions integrated with the complex conservation needs of developing countries. Effective partnerships between zoos and in-country institutions are likely to:

• be simple
• ensure that decision making occurs at the appropriate levels
• have agreement on well-defined goals and objectives
• provide support to local institutions and their staff development

Three examples of successful in-situ conservation strategies led by North American zoos are:

1. Golden Lion Tamarin Conservation Program led by the National Zoo (USA)
2. Madagascar Faunal Group (Madagascar Conservation Action Partnership of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association)
3. Wildlife Conservation Society of the Bronx Zoo

The Iwokrama-Jacksonville Partnership

Iwokrama and Jacksonville Zoological Gardens in Florida, USA, are embarking on an ambitious programme employing the key elements that make these partnerships successful. An agreement for cooperation has been signed between the Jacksonville Zoo and the Government of Guyana that will serve as a model for the involvement of other zoos in funding conservation activities in Guyana.

The agreement outlines cooperation between the Jacksonville Zoo and partners in Guyana for in-situ conservation. The main in-country partners are Iwokrama, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Parks Commission, and the North Rupununi District Development Board, the community-based organisation representing the communities in the Iwokrama Forest area.

Jaguars Salsa (black) and her sister, Onca, were born in October 2001 at the Louisiana Zoo. They were born specifically for this exhibit and have been raised by hand since they were a few days old. (There are other animals from Guyana in Jacksonville, but no Jaguars as yet.)

The focus of the agreement is Guyana's loan of animals - exclusively those no longer able to survive in the wild (such as former pets) - to Jacksonville Zoo for raising awareness, increasing promotion of tourism, and raising funds for conservation in Guyana. In March 2004 Jacksonville Zoo, with an average of 600,000 visitors annually, opened a new exhibit - "Range of the Jaguar". The Exhibit showcases these animals, the Iwokrama Forest, the Rupununi Wetlands, and conservation and development projects run by local communities, Iwokrama and government agencies. Critically, the exhibit portrays conservation as a complex story presented from local and national perspectives rather than from only the international perspective.

The agreement between Guyana and Jacksonville Zoo is consistent with international conventions including the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). The importation of these animals into the USA requires the Zoo to show that the display of these animals will help the survival of the species in the wild. The Zoo-Guyana agreement is worth US$120,000 to date, but is likely to blossom as new sources of funds and new markets are found.

The ways the Zoo will support conservation efforts in Guyana include: developing wildlife management policy and legislation supporting surveys of key endangered species enhancing environmental education, and building capacity and infrastructure support for the National Parks Commission

Arapaima Display at the Jacksonville Zoo

The Zoo also offers the opportunity for visitors to contribute to Guyana's economy by purchasing crafts produced in Guyana. Crafts from Nappi, Santa Mission, St. Cuthbert's, The Rupununi, and Liana Canes and have been selling like hotcakes. The Zoo estimates it will be able to sell over US$100,000 of this merchandise each year to its 600,000 annual visitors. This attendance - about 75% of the entire population of Guyana - is an historic and monumental boost for marketing "green, socially responsible, and sustainable Guyanese products.

Furthermore, the Zoo is planning to organise ecotourism trips to Iwokrama, the Rupununi and Guyana in general.

Jacksonville Zoo's "Field Station"

Moving Forward

Iwokrama already benefits substantially from American zoo and conservation community support totaling between US$100,000 and US$250,000 every year. This agreement will serve to solidify this support and several other zoos have indicated strong interest in working with Guyana through this agreement or by developing similar relationships. Iwokrama's Director General (Ag), Dr. Graham Watkins, and programme architects from the Jacksonville Zoo (Karl Kranz of Jacksonville Zoo and John Rodgers of CLR Design) presented the concept behind the programme and implementation to date to an audience of zoos in Santa Barbara, California in March 2004.