Our missions
Protecting nature; raising awareness; initiating and coordinating conservation and research programmes; providing financial and material support to nature protection associations. These are just some of the missions and actions performed by Beauval Nature in collaboration with many other committed parties from across the globe, in the name of biodiversity.
To fund, support, preserve and protect… Beauval Nature’s missions
58 conservation programmes and 19 research programmes in 2023—now that’s a lot! The missions that Beauval Nature set itself were to fund, support, and, in some cases, directly manage these programmes around the world. With what objectives in mind? To preserve the natural environment, protect animal and plant species, promote scientific studies that further knowledge, encourage the sharing of such knowledge between Beauval’s experts and scientists in the field, and raise the general public’s awareness (including the 2 million people who visit the ZooParc de Beauval every year).
Our commitments in detail
Through its activities, Beauval Nature strives to:
- protect ecosystems in order to conserve endangered species throughout the world,
- provide long-term financial, material, and human support to those working in the field who fight to protect ecosystems from destruction, and species from extinction,
- rigorously select conservation and research programmes for their gravity, reliability, and impact,
- work with local specialists,
- guarantee the best use of the donations it receives, and to use the resources allocated to it as efficiently as possible,
- act with transparency with regard to the actions carried out and the resources used,
- cooperate with international bodies.
Raising public awareness, a big priority of ours
The future of conservation relies upon raising public awareness. Beauval Nature therefore takes genuine practical action to preserve biodiversity:
- By raising awareness among local populations and supporting them by proposing economic, social, and sustainable solutions to reduce anthropogenic pressure on nature as much as possible.
- By raising awareness among the public and visitors to the ZooParc, captivating them with memorable experiences to help them realise that the survival of the human race depends on the preservation of ecosystems.
- By acting as a bridge between conservationists in the field and scientists and zookeepers in zoos, which serve as veritable vaults of biodiversity.
- By implementing genuine interaction and knowledge-sharing initiatives to promote a global approach to species preservation.
2,9 millions d’euros in 2023
The Beauval Nature association, created by the ZooParc de Beauval in 2009, allocated €2.9 million to conservation and research activities in 2023. This same year, it supported 58 conservation programmes. Its involvement comes in many forms: purchasing monitoring equipment, creating protected areas, combating poaching and illegal trafficking, reforestation plans, training local populations, economic development, participating in animal reintroductions and translocations (western lowland gorillas, Andean condors, giraffes, etc.).
Conserving endangered species through concrete action over 5 continents
Faced with the rapid decline in biodiversity, with a variety of anthropogenic causes: habitat destruction and fragmentation (deforestation, intensive monoculture, road infrastructure, etc.); over-exploitation of resources; the introduction of invasive exotic species; climate change; air, soil, and water pollution; illegal trafficking and trade in species; and human/animal conflict; conservation is a top priority for zoological parks. Each year, zoos allocate substantial financial resources to conservation. In 2022, more than 350 million dollars were allocated to conservation by zoological institutions.
Other examples of conservation actions
- Beauval Nature supported hornbill breeding in Malaysia by training associations, in situ, to build artificial nests for these large birds.
- Beauval Nature financed the construction of a veterinary hospital for elephants in Laos.
- Beauval Nature launched a census of populations including bats in the Loir-et-Cher department of France.
Research: gaining knowledge to improve protection
The research programmes supported by Beauval Nature allow us to significantly advance our knowledge of the animal and plant world. The more we can learn, the better our chances are of saving the natural environment, keeping wild animals in their natural habitats in the long term, and preserving the stability of ecosystems, which is essential to the balance of our planet.
The association supports and collaborates on numerous scientific studies in partnership with research institutes. Their findings are likely to improve animal welfare, further biomimicry, and increase our knowledge of animals and their adaptations to their ecosystems. The association supports many university projects and research programmes: understanding the facial expressions of psittacids; studying the cognition and acoustic communication of West Indian manatees; preparing platelet-rich plasma for white storks; understanding, and taking action to improve coexistence between humans and Asian elephants; improving the welfare of and conservation efforts for clouded leopards; creating a global catalogue of life, etc.
