Chester Zoo part of a new global congress to stop species dying out

Experts from Chester Zoo are throwing a spotlight on species conservation at the IUCN’s first ever World Species Congress – a global event to inspire action for species conservation.

For the first time, conservationists from around the world are joining forces to highlight some of the planet’s rarest species and what’s being done to protect them to inspire everyone to do their bit to help reverse the current biodiversity crisis.

"We need government to take species protection and biodiversity protection very seriously." said Dr Simon Dowell, science and conservation director at Chester Zoo.

"We have orangutans here at the zoo, they come the rainforests which sadly are being cut down to make way for palm oil. Palm oil is in many of the things we buy. And we're talking to government to bring in legislation, that would make it compulsory for large companies to only procure sustainable sources of palm oil."

Led by the global movement ‘Reverse the Red’, the 24-hour virtual event on 15 May 2024 will see leaders in conservation encourage 100,000 commitments and actions to protect the natural world, and as part of this Chester Zoo’s experts will highlight multiple species under threat and their vital efforts to help save them from extinction.

Simon continued: "I think it's a wake-up call for government. Species recovery takes a lot of effort but it does work."

"Britain is one of the most nature depleted countries on earth so we need our government to do more, and we hope our conversation and debate will bring action."

Linking up to schools

The conservation charity is also broadcasting a one-off, hour long ‘live lesson’ from the zoo into classrooms all over the country to champion threatened species, covering topics like how experts care for native and exotic species, how the study of hormones in animal poo is helping to save Eastern black rhinos from extinction, and the impacts of palm oil on tropical rainforests, local people, and unique species like orangutans.

Chester Zoo’s live lesson will be streamed into an estimated 100 schools and 10,000 school children.

The event aims to inspire the next generation to help reverse the decline of threatened species and recover biodiversity by showcasing some of the rarest species in the world that the zoo is home to and the vital projects they lead to protect them.

Hear the latest news from across the UK every hour, on Planet Rock on DAB, smartspeaker, and on the Rayo app.