Species Restoration

Hello.  My name is Elliot Handrus and I have been involved with zoos and wildlife conservation for the past 30 years.  We humans, as a species, have done extensive damage to the planet.  For this reason, myself and a dedicated group my colleagues and friends have helped create a not for profit organization to restore species back to the wild. I will be writing this blog periodically with input and ideas from this passionate group. The excerptss below are from the business plan of The Species Restoration Project, and was written by Jessica Hagbery, and myself.  Enjoy, and I hope all our blog posts touch you deeply and encourage you to do anything you can to repair the damage that we have done.

The world around us is changing. Recent species extinction rates are said to be 100 to 1000 times greater than pre-human levels¹ Scientists suggest that we are in the midst of the earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction with our current extinction rate exceeding those which caused the earth’s previous Big Five extinctions^2,3. Mass extinctions are a loss of at least 75% of species in a geologically short period of time (2 million years or less). Mass extinction levels may be reached within a few centuries if we do n0t address current threats to species extinction², which include natural resource depletion, habitat fragmentation, non-native species introduction, spreading of pathogens, the direct killing of species and changing global climate.

According to the 2012 Red List of Threatened Species, 20,921 species of vertebrate, invertebrates and plants (7,358, 3,734, and 9,829 respectively) have been identified as threatened (critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable)⁴. These numbers are likely under-estimates considering that only 56% of identified vertebrates, 1% of identified invertebrates and 5% of identified plants have been evaluated for conservation status⁴. Scientists encourage that it is not too late to save the world’s biodiversity, but immediate action must be taken if we hope to slow down the current extinction rate.

A variety of strategies have been chosen by the major corporations in the conservation market to decrease species extinction rates. Strategies range from conservation through sustainable zoo/aquarium management and public education (Association of Zoos and Aquariums, AZA) to modification of public policy (Defenders of Wildlife), or increasing the spread of knowledge inside the conservation communities by providing a forum for cooperation (International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN), and others do it all (World Wildlife Federation, WWF).

The Species Restoration Project has chosen to go into wildlife conservation  using a market penetration approach, captivating a greater market share by teaming up with non-profit and not-for-profit organizations. We are facilitating collaborations between local conservation organizations, as well as, offering our knowledge and assets to facilitate species reintroductions and conservation research. Together we can eliminate the current extinction rate one species at a time.