EAZA News 58-9 - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

eaza news 58
2007
04
from the eaza office
Introducing…..the EAZA Executive Office EAZA Executive Office, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Although many colleagues within the
EAZA community are familiar with the
EAZA Executive Office, not everyone is
aware of its tasks and responsibilities,
or knows the staff working at the office.
The relocation of the EAZA Executive
Office within the Artis Royal Zoo in
Amsterdam in February 2007 felt like a
good opportunity to describe the new
location and to introduce the current
staff members. But let us start with
some history first…
A close cooperation between zoos
The need for a close cooperation between zoos
became obvious after the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) came into force in 1975. Suddenly, zoos
were cut off from the import of wild-caught
animals and had to build up self-sustaining
animal populations. In 1985 a meeting took place
at Antwerp Zoo, in order to discuss possibilities
for coordinating breeding programmes in Europe.
A second meeting at Cologne Zoo the same year
resulted in the establishment of the first
19 European Endangered species Programmes
(EEPs), and the formation of the EEP Committee.
The European Community Association of Zoos
and Aquaria (ECAZA) was established in 1988 and
in 1992 it was transformed into the European
Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) as its
pan-European successor.
Merging coordination and
administration
The EEP Committee established rules for running
breeding programmes, but a procedure for selecting
species for new EEPs was needed. The first
Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs) were formed in
1990 when it became obvious that the overall
coordination and administration could not be
handled by the EEP Committee alone. That same
year the Dutch Zoo Federation (NVD) offered
assistance in establishing an EEP Executive Office
based at its National Foundation for Research in
Zoological Gardens (NFRZG) office, housed at
Artis Royal Zoo. The EEP Office later developed
into the EAZA Executive Office (EEO). The EEO
was established in order to assist EAZA’s
members and its decision making bodies,
especially the EAZA Council, in reaching the
objectives of the organization. The first executive
director of the office was Bert de Boer, followed
by Koen Brouwer in 1993 and the current
executive director, Harry Schram, in 2006.
A more representative office
Office staff members initially worked for both
the Dutch Zoo Federation and EAZA, and shared
an office located on the first floor of the gorilla
house in Artis Royal Zoo. In 2005 it was decided
to legally separate the offices of the Dutch Zoo
Federation and EAZA and to move both organisations
to a different, more representative building
on the premises of Artis Royal Zoo.
Since 2006 staff members of both associations
have been employed by the European Zoo and
Aquarium Foundation (EZAF), a foundation
created to take over the office activities and staff
members from the former National Foundation
for Research in Zoological Gardens. All staff
members relocated to the new office, housed in
a beautiful 1880 building which was previously
used as necropsy room and has been entirely
renovated for its new purpose, in February 2007.
Services to EAZA
The EAZA Executive Office (EEO) will continue to
provide the EAZA membership with a wide variety
of services. The EEO work is currently done by ten
people (8.9 full-time equivalents).
The main tasks that the EEO focuses on include:
– coordination and support of breeding
programmes and collection planning;
– education, marketing and sustainability
activities;
– coordination of conservation campaigns;
– lobbying and representation;
– organisation of conferences and meetings;
– support to EAZA Council and committees;
– maintaining a resource centre and website;
– external communications and publications;
– training, support and consultancy;
– administration.
The office basically operates with two departments;
Membership Services and Accreditation
(MSA) and Collection Coordination and
Conservation (CCC).
MSA mainly focuses on campaigns, legislation,
accreditation, PR, finance and other services to
the EAZA membership, whereas CCC focuses on
the coordination of breeding programmes and
animal management. Besides these departments,
there is an office manager/secretary, a staff member
managing the EAZA website and the EAZA
News magazine and an ISIS European liaison.
The EEO is furthermore assisted by two people
working on a consultancy basis out of Antwerp
Zoo, Belgium and Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark.
EAZA very much appreciates Amsterdam Royal
Zoo for acting as a host for the EEO facilities. The
next page shows the beautiful new office building,
including the current EEO staff members. •
executive director
harry schram
harry.schram@eaza.net
offıce management and secretariat
fleur kist
info@eaza.net
membership services &
accreditation (msa)
corinne bos | Manager
corinne.bos@eaza.net
martijn los | Assistant manager
martijn.los@eaza.net
sietske veenman | Assistant manager
sietske.veenman@eaza.net
collection coordination &
conservation (ccc)
bart hiddinga | Manager
bart.hiddinga@eaza.net
danny de man | Assistant manager mammals
danny.de.man@eaza.net
william van lint | Assistant manager
birds, lower vertebrates and invertebrates
william.van.lint@eaza.net
eaza news & website
jeannette van benthem
jeannette.van.benthem@eaza.net
isis european liaison
sander cozijn
sander.cozijn@eaza.net
conservation database | yearbook
katrine garn
katrine.garn@eaza.net
population management
kristin leus
kristin.leus@eaza.net