Durrell News
Jersey Senator congratulates course graduates
11th March 2008
Graduates from Durrell's first Amphibian Conservation Husbandry course received certificates from Jersey's Environment Minister, Senator Freddie Cohen, during a presentation last week.
Twenty-one conservation experts have been in Jersey attending the amphibian course, which is the first of its kind in Europe. As amphibians face a crisis on a global scale, the course participants spent 11-days gaining essential training in the management and conservation of some of the most threatened amphibians in the world.
Habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, over-harvesting for the pet trade and disease are all taking their toll on amphibian populations. For certain species their only hope in the short term is to secure their survival in captivity. Such ‘safety-net’ populations allow conservationists to maintain these species until conditions are suitable for them to be reintroduced to the wild. However, the current capacity within zoos to respond to this need is limited.
To equip European zoos and aquaria to meet this challenge the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in partnership with Chester Zoological Gardens, launched the course at its International Training Centre, in Jersey, Channel Islands.
Senator Cohen told the graduates he hoped they had enjoyed their time in Jersey and looked forward to welcoming them back in the future. Speaking afterwards about the role of Durrell, he said; "It's very good for Jersey that Durrell runs important courses such as this. Durrell plays a key role as Jersey's lead institution, working globally for conservation. We must do all that we can to support Durrell in its work and with its plans to expand its headquarters here in Jersey."
The ITC will be running the Endangered Species Recovery course later this year, which is also open to those who are non-professionals but have an active interest in biodiversity conservation. Click here for more details.
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Durrell-PR-110308.pdf
Durrell-PR-Pack-110308.zip
