The Civet Project & Drusillas Conservation in Action Partner on Reverse the Red Day

Partners, civil society organisations, zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens, and communities around the world are celebrating Reverse the Red Day on February 7. Events will be taking place online and in person at a variety of locations to celebrate this landmark day for species conservation.

To celebrate Reverse the Red Day, Sussex based organisations The Civet Project Foundation and Drusillas Conservation in Action have partnered in a commitment to reverse the red for Viverrids!

Viverrids are ancient small carnivores found throughout Africa and Asia and include civets and binturong. Although poorly known, civet and binturong species are under significant threat across southeast Asia owing to the popularity of products such as kopi luwak (civet coffee).

Kopi luwak is coffee that has been predigested and defecated by civets and is widely marketed as the most expensive coffee in the world. The rise in global demand has since seen civets commonly caged and force fed coffee in horrendous conditions across southeast Asia. Civet coffee tours are now popular tourist sites and include caged and even drugged civets for tourists to pose with.

The Civet Project Foundation is the world’s leading voice for civets and has been working tirelessly to end the civet coffee industry through community outreach and industry action. Following the release of their award winning documentary ‘From Rare to Reckless’, an undercover film that explored the civet coffee industry in Vietnam, The Civet Project successfully secured a travel industry boycott of the sale of civet coffee tours. Thanks to their efforts, it is no longer possible to purchase civet coffee tours on Tripadvisor, AirBnB, Booking.com, Klook, and TUI. This year, The Civet Project is building their efforts by working with even more industries and organizations to reverse the red of civet species.

The goal of Reverse the Red is simple but ambitious: we need to stop pushing our environment to the brink and relegating more species into worse status on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. To upend species and ecosystem loss, we need systemic change, which is why Reverse the Red brings together a diverse coalition of partners to collaborate, scale up aspirations and impact, and engage people from all walks of life to take action for biodiversity.

Nearly 200 governments adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) with four goals and 23 targets for 2030. We have already successfully moved over 200 species one or more steps away from extinction on the IUCN Red List. Partners like zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens, research institutions, scientific networks, governments, tribal and indigenous governments, and community members have a hand in reversing the red for these species. Contributions to breeding, husbandry, rescue and release, pathology, veterinary medicine, genetic management, education, fundraising, community engagement, and more are key to meeting targets and recovering species.

As part of their collective Reverse the Red commitment, The Civet Project and Drusillas Conservation in Action is launching a Species Pledge for binturong- a formal commitment to reverse the rates of species decline for binturong species by protecting them from threats such as civet coffee. The pledge collates organisational commitments from governments, zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens, and other organisations, to compile a database of strategic and impact-driven species efforts. The goal of the Species Pledge is to create a coordinated map of key actions aimed at species recovery, utilising defined impact indicators.

Speaking about the new partnership, Dr Jes Hooper (Founder of the Civet Project Foundation, and former keeper at Drusillas Park) said:

“The new partnership between The Civet Project Foundation and Drusillas Conservation in Action is very close to my heart. As a Sussex local, I began my career working as a zookeeper at Drusillas and I know how important the zoo is for the local community. It is brilliant to see Drusillas partnering with international conservation and animal welfare organisations who have roots in Sussex. As part of our species pledge for binturong, Drusillas will be working with us to highlight the plight of binturong through important activities such as bringing key educational messages to their visitors. This partnership is a vital part of our collaborate efforts to bring in-situ and ex-situ conservation together to protect civet species in line with our commitment to Reverse the Red for Viverrids.”

Ollie Smith (Trustee of Drusillas Conservation In Action) commented:

“Drusillas Park has recently embarked on an ambitious conservation strategy to use our position of influence to drive meaningful change for species survival and habitat restoration. As we celebrate our centenary in 2025, we remain steadfast in our commitment to amplifying our wildlife conservation efforts and pushing for even greater impact.

Although we are not currently home to civet species, we take immense pride in caring for the vulnerable binturong, part of the civet family, and a species that captivates the hearts of thousands of visitors and learners each year. Through our resident binturong and close collaboration with Jes Hooper of The Civet Project, we are dedicated to raising awareness and bolstering commitment to Viverrid conservation.“

We hope that organisations around the world continue to support the critical work of saving species. Reversing declines and recovering biodiversity is possible. We need to accelerate and amplify successful strategies as we collaborate and together increase the collective impact for species.