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, made by ZSL and United for Wildlife
Education is one of our main priorities at ZSL. From September 2016, ZSL and United for Wildlife have launched free online courses designed to empower the next generation of conservationists.
The courses have been developed by ZSL and United for Wildlife, supported by the other partners of the United for Wildlife collaboration.
So far more than 8,500 people from 196 countries have signed up to take the free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). We want to develop more courses and have provided Spanish transcripts, with Mandarin and Hindi to come, building a global online learning hub.
James Suter
Introducing Conservation is video-based and presented by experts from around the world of conservation. It gives people a route to learn the conservation fundamentals they may not otherwise have access to.
The course is made up of four modules:
Take the short course to learn more about key issues within conservation, gain an awareness of the problems facing us and the world we live in, and discover what you can do to help. This course is suitable for anyone interested in wildlife and the environment, and you do not need any pre-existing knowledge. You can take the course at your own pace. Complete the course with 100% in all four modules to get your certificate.
Sign up for Introducing Conservation
This 'Insights' course focuses on conservation prioritisation and builds on basic conservation concepts from the existing introductory course, Introducing Conservation.
Take the new Species and spaces where you will learn how conservationists decide what to save. With limited resources, find out how effective conservation triage focuses time and money into saving species and spaces that are vital to preserving biodiversity and our planet as we know it. Find out more in this insight into prioritising species, prioritising spaces and discover how prioritisation can be turned into conservation action on the ground.
Sign up for Species and Spaces
Why are certain species of wildlife traded? What is the illegal wildlife trade? Learn more about what the illegal wildlife trade is and find out what the impacts are on some of the world’s most iconic species. Explore what is being done to change global demand and some of the ways you can fight the illegal wildlife trade and stand up for wildlife.
Carlos Suarez, Oceanos de Fuego
Why is it important to preserve the ocean? How do we use the ocean and are human activities really impacting marine life? Find out about the importance of marine species and habitats, the impacts human activities have on them and the conservation approaches to tackle these marine threats. Take your next steps to becoming an ocean optimist and make a difference today!
What happens on scientific expeditions, who is involved and how do you plan them? Sign up for 'Scientific expeditions' to learn about their importance to conservation, different technologies used and how an effective leader can make all the difference. You can also learn all about ZSL’s EDGE expedition to Cuba!
Sign up for Scientific expeditions
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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