Annual Report 2013

We are very pleased to present you with the 2013 Annual Report of the Frankfurt Zoological Society of 1858 e.V. and our supporting “Help for Threatened Wildlife” Foundation. It provides an overview of our work last year and a glimpse of things to come. Thanks in part to prominent third-party funding, the FZS was once again able to expand its ambitious programme of activities. We are very pleased to partner with these major sponsors in carrying out our conservation work – particularly in East Africa.

As in years past, we have acted prudently in managing the nature conservation capital that you have generously placed at our disposal. This report presents a sober yet informative account of our financial situation as well as an overview of our diverse efforts across the globe. The financial statements of the Society and Foundation have been approved without qualification by the auditor selected by the membership.

Let me take the opportunity in this Annual Report to recognise the many official entities in our project countries whose goodwill and cooperation help us to carry out our important mission. Exemplary in this regard is the Tanzanian nature conservation agency, TANAPA, with whom we have had a partnership for 50 years. The same goes for all of our other government partners in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa. Thank you – we rely on your continued support!

FZS headquarters and project leaders on the ground are also in constant contact with German agencies abroad, embassies and consulates, as well as representatives of the European Union and the countries in which we run our projects. Their cooperation in our host countries is invaluable and we appreciate their support of our projects.

And finally allow me to thank you, dear FZS members and friends. Your generous donations, bequests and gifts form the basis of our global and long-term nature conservation work. The Society and Foundation are run in a careful and results-oriented fashion; we know our limits, financial and otherwise.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Foundation Trustees, I would like to express my thanks to all of our supporters. My thanks and recognition also go out to our dedicated staff at headquarters and on location, where conditions can be so difficult. We rely on your continued commitment to nature conservation, because preserving the world’s biodiversity will require concerted and long-term efforts from all of us.

For my part, I will be taking leave of my office as President of the Society in 2014. I leave this post with gratitude and a great sense of satisfaction for what we have achieved.

Gerhard Kittscher
President of the Frankfurt Zoological Society