Blog: What is a Centre for Species Survival?

Andrea Dempsey (Hertfordshire Zoo) and Dr Andrew Mooney, (Dublin Zoo) write about the extraordinary role of their zoos as IUCN Centres for Species Survival. 

Centre for Species Survival: United Kingdom 

The Centre of Species Survival – United Kingdom was formed in 2019, proudly hosted by Hertfordshire Zoo in partnership with the IUCN Species Survival Commission.  The Centre based at Hertfordshire Zoo, where I was appointed Species Survival Officer, was structured to support the work of the IUCN Red List team. I qualified as a Red List Assessor and subsequentially a Red List trainer to assess the status of species conservation work carried out at a national level.  
This Centre seeks to work collaboratively with the SSC members, national governments and stakeholders to facilitate the use of IUCN tools and processes to support data-driven analysis, science-based engagement, decision-making and the development of policies that contribute to local efforts for halting species loss implementing the IUCN SSC Species Conservation Framework of assessment, planning and action. 

The Centre work soon progressed with key strategic meetings between Hertfordshire Zoo management and IUCN SSC Chair’s Office team, the Centre began focusing on native species of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Not an easy undertaking as there are four countries within the UK and Northern Ireland, all with different mandates and entities responsible for the conservation of their native species and habitat. I have sat in many meetings of these different factions across the landscape and began to reflect on how the Centre could be more meaningful in what could easily become a vast undertaking.  

As part of this process, the Centre noting that British and Irish Zoo and Aquarium (BIAZA) members were often overlooked as conservation entities in discussions and how there was no central database of work being carried out in the region, with limited connectivity among the organisations. With support from Hertfordshire Zoo and the IUCN SSC Chair’s team, I devised a four prong approach with a clear work plan: 

1. Gap Analysis - Working with a list of threatened endemic species, the Centre identifies species that have been overlooked and need conservation action. 

2. Connectivity - The Centre connects the over-looked species with experts including those found in our zoos and aquariums to implement conservation within the Species Conservation Cycle: - Access - Plan -Act. 

3. Knowledge Products - The Centre provides support to organizations, zoos and aquariums to undertake conservation action including Red List training, activity planning and project management. 

4. Keep It Local - The Centre, based at Hertfordshire Zoo, works with local council and conservation organisations to be actively engaged and impactful in local monitoring, species recovery and sustainable protection from bats and badger to frogs and lizards! 

Centre for Species Survival: Ireland 

Launched in 2023, Dublin Zoo is the proud host of the Centre for Species Survival: Ireland. Based in the Zoo’s historic Society House building, this centre is an official partnership with the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and is part of a global network of 18 centres based in 12 countries across 5 continents. The centre acts as a hub for Dublin Zoo’s conservation and science work, and it’s where our growing Conservation and Science team work on strategies and actions plans to make a difference for wildlife, with a particular focus on native Irish species.  

What is a Species Survival Centre?  

Centres for Species Survival work in close partnership with SSC's almost 10,000 volunteer experts to conduct extinction risk assessments, facilitate multi-stakeholder conservation planning, mobilise priority action and build capacity to save species. At Dublin Zoo, the Centre for Species Survival: Ireland gives Dublin Zoo’s Conservation and Science team the capacity to directly contribute to species conservation efforts at a national level in Ireland acting as catalysers; working with the SSC network, government agencies, academia and local conservation organisations. The Centre for Species Survival team follow the IUCN SSC Species Conservation Cycle to guide their work. This cycle is made up of five core components which are: 

• Assess 
• Plan 
• Act 
• Network 
• Communicate 

Using this framework, the Centre for Species Survival team and Dublin Zoo as an organisation, actively work to save threatened species and habitats. They do this by: 

• Conducting IUCN Red List assessments for species in Ireland.  
• Contributing to conservation action plans and strategies to help save priority species.  
• Collaborating with key partners, from government bodies to local communities, on species conservation projects.   

The team also work to amplify conservation successes amongst local communities and within the wider public to further inspire a passion for nature and wildlife and to generate optimism and hope for conservation in Ireland.  

What does it mean for zoos to be a Centre for Species Survival?  

With over 31,000 recorded species, Ireland has a rich biodiversity spanning terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments. These species and environments provide critical ecosystem services and immeasurable economic, cultural, and societal benefits.  

However, a significant proportion of Ireland’s biodiversity is currently threatened with extinction and 91% of assessed habitats have an unfavourable conservation status.  

With the Centre for Species Survival: Ireland at Dublin Zoo, the team can work to make a difference for native species and the habitats they rely on. Dublin Zoo works with several Irish conservation organisations, such as Seal Rescue Ireland and BirdWatch Ireland to protect some of the country’s most threatened species and habitats. This ranges from the marsh fritillary butterfly, Ireland’s only legally protected insect species, to the curlew, possibly one of Ireland’s most threatened bird species.  

The Centre for Species Survival: Ireland allows Dublin Zoo to take its conservation efforts even further as it offers new and greater opportunities for collaboration with other conservation organisations, while simultaneously giving Dublin Zoo the space to unite stakeholders and catalyse action for native Irish species.  

What difference will being a Centre for Species Survival make?  

The Centre for Species Survival: Ireland helps position Dublin Zoo as a leader in native species conservation efforts and we are already seeing a big impact from it. So far, the team has achieved some great successes and these include:  

• Working with the National Parks & Wildlife Service, Dublin Zoo has been able to incorporate the Centre and its work into Ireland’s next National Biodiversity Action Plan, which is due to be published later in 2024.  
• Working at a policy level and with the IUCN SSC, Dublin Zoo has been able to showcase the unique potential as a conservation organisation and in particular, the value of ex situ conservation in protecting Ireland’s biodiversity.  
• Being invited to contribute to the next National Invasive Alien Species Management Plan and the recent Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss.  

Key to the success of the Centre to date has been the appointment of a dedicated Species Survival Officer, who works with colleagues from other Centres for Species Survival around the world to learn from and share success stories.  

Although a new centre and an emerging role for Dublin Zoo, the team and organisation are excited to be able to have a space and team dedicated to making a long-term impact on Ireland’s biodiversity.  

By Andrea Dempsey, Conservation Officer at Hertfordshire Zoo 

& Dr Andrew Mooney, Conservation and Research Officer at Dublin Zoo 

All blogs reflect the views of their author and are not necessarily a reflection of BIAZA's positions.