To celebrate World Environment Day, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has announced its support for a new UN initiative to restore ecosystems around the world.
With the aim of restoring and preserving the planet, tackling climate change, preventing the extinction of different species and inspiring future generations – the RZSS is joining hundreds of other institutions sharing the same goal.
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration will be led by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
With the help of the wildlife charity and hundreds like them, they hope to lay the foundations to helping combat growing issues surrounding the environment.
David Field, chief executive at RZSS said: “Our planet is facing an extinction crisis, with scientists warning one million species are on the brink of disappearing and the evidence that human activities are behind nature’s rapid decline is overwhelming.
“RZSS’s ground-breaking science and research continues to enable us to learn more about the incredible species in our care and informs measures to help safeguard species in the wild here in Scotland and beyond.
“Our education programme for schools has reached over one million young people in the past four decades intending to inspire the next generation of conservationists and reconnect them with nature.”
As a wildlife conservation charity, RZSS has been safeguarding threatened species in Scotland and around the world for over 100 years, with current projects including restoring the Scottish wildcat population and protecting chimpanzees in Uganda.
There are currently more than 250 institutions in 51 countries urging world leaders to take urgent and ambitious measures at the CoP 15 meeting of the UN Convention on biological diversity in China this autumn.