Annual Report 2007

We are very pleased to present to you on the occasion of our 150th Anniversary the 2007 Annual Report of the Frankfurt Zoological Society of 1858 e. V. and our supporting «Help for Threatened Wildlife» Foundation. We report on an array of special events designed both to commemorate the FZS’s birthday and to attract your attention (and that of the media) to our many conservation activities. Of course, our primary concern is to provide an account of our work in 2007 and in the following pages you can read about how and where we are contributing to the conservation of biological diversity. This naturally includes financial reporting – perhaps somewhat dry but nonetheless revealing – that describes the foundation of our conservation work. As in previous years, the financial accounts of the FZS and the foundation were approved without qualification by the auditor selected by the membership.

Garnering wide media attention at the UN Biodiversity Conference in May in Bonn, the call was made to significantly reduce the continuing drastic rate of biodiversity loss by 2010; in Europe the demand was for a complete halt by the same date. I can still hear the urgency of our Chancellor’s words: «At stake is nothing more and nothing less […] than securing the basis of our own survival. We also carry the responsibility for preser- ving and maintaining opportunities for development for future generations.

This Annual Report is about what we do all over the world. But let me take this opportunity to emphasize that for years we have also been investing in biodiversity «at home» in Germany. Bernhard Grzimek was a founder of the Bavarian Forest National Park and from 2004 to 2006 the FZS was instrumental in launching Northern Eifel National Park. We have been a major force behind the conversion of former military training grounds into conservation areas, where the reestablishment of flora and fauna has meant real gains in terms of Germany’s biodiversity. Preserving wetland systems – through the purchase of land and other strategies – was and continues to be a high priority. We have also fought to preserve biodiversity in the wetlands of the Elbe and along the Leine and Günz rivers, at the Nördlinger Ries and in the Rhön Biosphere Reserve.

Let me extend my heartfelt appreciation to all of those who have followed and so generously supported our work in 2007. Particular thanks go out to everyone who responded to our appeals for donations to support conservation activities for the gorillas, Ethiopian wolves and the Galapagos. On behalf of the Board and the Council of the «Help for Threatened Wildlife» Foundation, I would like to acknowledge the commitment of all of our members, sponsors, donors and friends. The same goes for our many partners and staff around the world. Please continue to lend us your support – because preserving the basis of our existence by protecting the world’s biodiversity will require increased efforts in the years to come.

Gerhard Kittscher
President of the Frankfurt Zoological Society