KUALA LUMPUR - National zoos across the world often rely on the work of passionate volunteers who put their hearts into animal welfare and conservation and make a meaningful difference to the zoos that they volunteer.
"Seeing their smiles and positive feedback from the young volunteers who have contributed to wildlife conservation awareness at Chester Zoo makes me feel very satisfied and happy," United Kingdom’s Chester Zoo volunteer manager, Lindsay Marston told Bernama after a sharing session on zoo volunteering with Zoo Negara recently.
"Volunteering has a significant impact on people, making them feel better about themselves, enhancing their communication skills and fostering confidence, which is beneficial for their overall personal development.
"The journey aims to ensure they fulfil the volunteer criteria, essentially contributing to a positive and rewarding experience," she added.
Sharing her volunteering journey, Marston said it all began when she decided to join Chester Zoo as a volunteer in 2019, and that was where she began managing young volunteers by introducing them to different roles.
"I am glad I have met many very passionate people who want to make a difference for animals, wildlife and the community. We are also actively engaging with young people in north-west England to survey what they know about wildlife conservation.
"Volunteering has a significant impact on people, making them feel better about themselves, enhancing their communication skills and fostering confidence, which is beneficial for their overall personal development.
"The journey aims to ensure they fulfil the volunteer criteria, essentially contributing to a positive and rewarding experience," said Marston, who is head of Chester Zoo’s wildlife conservation and education team.
VOLUNTEERING MAKES A DIFFERENCE
During the sharing session, representatives from both Zoo Negara and Chester Zoo exchanged views on their respective volunteering programmes.
Marston explained how Chester Zoo’s 10-year wildlife conservation master plan was aimed at preventing animal extinction.
The master plan, she said, was meant to protect an additional 150 species and reverse or halt the decline of at least 200 species of wildlife by 2031.
Chester Zoo was named UK's best zoo and sixth in the world, which currently has a grand total of 35,139 animals, from more than 500 of the world’s rarest species recorded in 2020.
It was the highest number since its opening more than 88 years ago - with 1,571 mammals, 1,759 birds, 339 reptiles, 677 amphibians, 6,739 fish and 24,054 insects all living at the zoo.
A year of important breeding successes of highly threatened animals resulted in thousands of births and hatchings, including a critically endangered West African chimpanzee, Eastern bongo calf, Sumatran orangutans and thousands of Bermudian snails in 2020.
Marston said currently, there are 13 youths aged 18 to 25 in Chester Zoo’s board of trustees who provide valuable ideas in leveraging the zoo’s youth-centric wildlife education.
She said since 2018, Chester Zoo has created opportunities for young people to volunteer at the zoo, giving them the chance to develop personal skills, become confident ambassadors for wildlife and make a positive difference.
"Youth volunteers join our team from age 14 and above through the Duke of Edinburgh volunteering scheme or community organisations such as Ancora House and Youth Federation.
"It’s fantastic to see their personal journey as they grow in confidence and develop the skills to communicate complex conservation issues in an accessible way.
"Youth volunteers become role models for children and young people visiting the zoo; the volunteering and social action from young people make a huge difference in society," she said, adding that about 200 young volunteers were trained under Chester Zoo every year.
She said through volunteering, youth volunteers explore conservation issues with zoo visitors, helping them understand ways they can act for wildlife in their daily lives.
"They are also stationed at some of our animal habitats in the zoo, ready to tell visitors interesting facts and help people spot some of our more elusive wildlife.
"We are firm believers in how utterly brilliant youth volunteering is and it is a chance for them to try something new, have fun and develop new skills.
"Volunteering gives young people a place to belong, enabling meaningful social action and supporting them in creating positive relationships," she said.
SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL PRODUCTS
Marston said in addition to educating about wildlife conservation, the young volunteers were also exposed to awareness on the importance of stopping deforestation, especially concerning endangered wildlife species such as Bornean orangutans.
"Although it is not in their national curriculum to learn about deforestation and biodiversity loss, we try to expose them to the dangers faced by nearly extinct wildlife due to deforestation for palm oil plantations in a very simple and enjoyable way.
"This is because these are very complex issues. When we talk about biodiversity loss, climate change, and wildlife conservation, we need to engage with young people in a very interesting and simple way to help them better understand and, therefore, explain to the zoo's visitors the importance of keeping endangered wildlife alive," she said.
She said besides that, the young volunteers also managed to inspire their friends in schools and family members to choose sustainable palm oil by recognising the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) logo and the Rainforest Alliance logo on some paper products.
"When they introduce the Bornean orangutan, for example, while explaining about the species and its endangered status according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they also explain how our daily actions can have a positive impact on saving these endangered animals.
"By supporting sustainable palm oil products with RSPO logos, they can actually help stop deforestation and assist society in making a difference in preventing biodiversity loss," she said.
Orangutans are currently listed as 'Critically Endangered' under the IUCN Red List.
COLLABORATION
Zoo Negara deputy president Datuk Rosly @ Rahmat Ahmat Lana said there are plans to enhance its partnership with Chester Zoo for more robust education and conservation projects in the future.
He said the national zoo was looking to also join forces with other members of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Waza) for more robust wildlife education and conservation projects.
"Both Zoo Negara and Chester Zoo are Waza members who are dedicated to the care and conservation of animals and their habitats around the world.
"The augmented partnership between both zoos raises the benchmark for our future programmes while further increasing the possibility of collaborating with other Waza members,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zoo Negara’s education head, Junaidi Omar said the zoo is also encouraging more school children, teenagers and university students, as well as the public to get involved in its volunteer programme via ‘Keeperku’ (My Zookeeper) project.
He said ‘Keeperku’ allows Malaysians aged 13 and above to gain hands-on experience in managing zoo animals through participation in a half or full-day programme, besides equipping them with skills to beautify the zoo’s landscape, maintain its facilities, manage animals in captivity and clean public areas.
"The programme also offers volunteers the opportunity to delve into the knowledge of the difficulties and challenges faced by animal keepers while carrying out their duties to care for wild animals.
"In this programme, we want the community, especially the younger generation, to learn and develop a love for animals together.
"When we understand the difficulties and challenges of caring for animals, there is an indirect emergence of affection towards those animals," he added. - BERNAMA