ZSL is a partner organisation of United for Wildlife. United for Wildlife (UfW) was created by The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry in June 2014.
Led by The Duke of Cambridge, it has brought together the world’s leading wildlife charities, including ZSL, and The Royal Foundation to address the pressing conservation challenges of today and to work to prevent endangered species from going extinct.
The collaboration was established to unite the world’s leading wildlife charities under a common purpose: to create a global movement for change.
The collaboration includes:
In addition to the partners, UfW work with a broad range of Governments, NGOs, and the private sector to restore wildlife populations to healthy levels.
United for Wildlife is committed to increasing attention on the most pressing conservation issues of our time, from the rapid escalation of illegal wildlife trade to the challenges of demand reduction.
These issues are having a devastating effect on wild populations of some of the largest and most iconic species like elephants, rhinos, and tigers, as well as lesser known species such as the pangolin.
Illegal wildlife trade is one of the biggest threats to our endangered species.
As part of efforts to end illegal wildlife trade, UfW developed the following committments:
Find out more about the commitments here.
James Suter
Visit the United for Wildlife website
As well as our own work to combat illegal wildlife trade, ZSL work closely with UfW to develop new ways to engage people with conservation.
We have:
Illegal wildlife trade is one of the biggest threats to our endangered species. As part of the efforts to end illegal wildlife trade, United for Wildlife developed the following commitments:
James Suter, Black Bean Productions
United for Wildlife are scoping out and trialling new and existing technologies which can assist in the fight against poachers on the front line throughout Africa and Asia, as well as developing incentives for community engagement and more effective protected area management. WILDLABS is a new online community for anyone who loves wildlife and wants to use technology for conservation. It is a place to share information, ideas, tools and resources to discover technology-enabled solutions to some of the biggest conservation issues facing our planet.
The demand for illegal wildlife products around the world has seen an unprecedented increase for a variety of complex reasons, across a number of countries. The key to reducing demand is to increase knowledge about conservation. To provide further knowledge, United for Wildlife created the Introducing Conservation course, a free online course about conservation and the environment. You can find out more about protecting the amazing variety of life on Earth and listen to leading experts talking about inspiring examples of projects that really make a difference.
The adequacy of legal systems to deal with crimes relating to illegal wildlife trade varies between countries, as does the application of existing laws and legal process. United for Wildlife aim to assist enforcement and legal authorities by providing up-to-date information for action, monitoring and publicising successes. They work with DLA Piper to look at the current laws in place and as part of this work DLA Piper completed reviews of wildlife laws in 26 countries covering source, transit and consumer. United for Wildlife is now working with DLA to support efforts in a number of countries to review the laws related to wildlife crimes and raise awareness of these across the judiciary and prosecution.
Private sector businesses across the entire illegal wildlife trade chain may be drawn into the illegal trade either deliberately or unwittingly. United for Wildlife have been working with the private sector to bolster existing measures to prevent the trade and develop and integrate new measures to detect and intercept illegal wildlife products. Their Transport Taskforce has brought high-level leaders from the transport industry together with representatives from across the world of conservation.
United for Wildlife is working to not only engage young people with the issues of conservation but to also empower them to be key spokespeople, ambassadors and wildlife heroes in their home countries. By providing digital platforms and social media engagement, people can find inspiration while learning more about the species threatened by illegal wildlife trade. The We Are The Rangers Minecraft map is just one of the ways they are reaching out to people who may not yet know about the poaching crisis. The aim of our Minecraft map is to highlight the terrible dangers facing wildlife from poachers, and the rangers who are battling to protect them.
Study conservation using our free online courses!
Education is one of our main priorities at ZSL and, together with United for Wildlife, we offer free online courses designed to empower the next generation of conservationists.
Over the last few years, we’ve achieved great things and have over 19,000 registered learners from almost every country in the world, have translated our courses into multiple languages, and have won two industry-leading e-learning awards (2017: Gold and 2016: Silver for best online learning project in the not-for-profit sector).
To ensure as many people as possible can access these courses and learn more about wildlife and conservation, they have moved to a new home on the National Geographic Society online platform.
You can take part from anywhere in the world, connect with others in our online community forum, discuss topical issues or share inspiring conservation stories. There are introductory courses followed by a selection of more detailed courses on key conservation topics and further information about embarking on a career in conservation.
This means that until the end of the year, you will still be able to access and complete the courses as normal on the United for Wildlife website. From January 2020, the website will be unavailable, so if there are any courses you are yet to complete, you will need to create a new account on the National Geographic platform, as course progress will not be transferred over.
If you are new to our online courses but would like to learn more, you can create an account and get started on the new National Geographic platform today.
Unfortunately, those in OFAC sanctioned countries will be unable to sign up for the new platform, however we are working on this and will let you know if this changes.”
The Royal Foundation and ZSL created a new Minecraft adventure map and game as part of the United for Wildlife collaboration.
We Are The Rangers is set in the African savannah, with players assuming the role of a ranger whose job it is to save endangered species, and aims to engage a new audience with conservation through the medium of gaming. So far, there have been more than 113,000 registered players.
Minecraft is highlighting the threats facing wild animals through a new game and set of maps. ZSL worked with the Royal Foundation and United for Wildlife partners on the development with the aim of showing young people the sad reality that some of our wild animals could disappear forever.
The maps are part of the "We Are The Rangers" campaign project, and feature animals including pangolin, elephant, rhino and lion, the real victims of illegal trade, plus the rangers trying to save them.
The aim of the game is to have fun and learn about conservation. Set in the African savannah, players take on the role of rangers, to save those precious animals that may soon disappear. One challenge involves players recovering stolen ivory and rhino horns – which is why all our elephants and rhino are disappearing in real life.
There are two components to We Are The Rangers:
The maps and game were developed with members of the public, who responded to a call for help with a Minecraft build to highlight how rangers protect animals facing extinction.
To celebrate the launch, high profile YouTubers Stampy Longhead and Wonderquest played through the maps and game. Stampy is high-profile YouTuber with 6.5million subscribers.
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