The Amphibian Ark (or AArk) is a joint effort of three principal partners: the
World Association of Zoos and Aquariums
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is the "umbrella" organization for the world zoo and aquarium community. Its mission is to provide leadership and support for zoos, aquariums, and partner organizations of the world in animal ca ...
(WAZA), the
IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG), and the
IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG).
The AArk was formed to address the ''
ex situ
Svalbard GLOBAL SEED BANK, an ''ex situ'' conservation.
''Ex situ'' conservation literally means, "off-site conservation". It is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety or breed, of plant or animal outside its natural habitat; ...
'' components of the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP). Its vision is the world's amphibians safe in nature, and its mission is ensuring the global survival of amphibians, focusing on those that cannot be safeguarded in nature.
Amphibian Ark staff
coordinate ''ex situ''
amphibian
Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
programs implemented by partners around the world, with the first emphasis on programs within the range countries of the species, and with an obligation to couple ''ex situ'' conservation measures with protection or restoration of species in their natural habitats.
An AArk Steering Committee, with Executive Co-Chairs from each of the three principal partners, provide guidance on the activities of the AArk and ensure communication with stakeholders.
A number of dedicated positions
coordinate implementation within the AArk initiative; assist AArk partners in priority taxa identifying and regions for ''ex situ'' conservation work; lead development and implementation of training programs for building capacity of individuals and institutions; and develop communications strategies, newsletters
and other messages, and materials to promote understanding and action on behalf of amphibian conservation.
Advisory Committees have been formed to consult on species-specific issues, for example,
reintroduction
Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustainin ...
,
gene bank
Gene banks are a type of biorepository that preserves genetic material. For plants, this is done by in vitro storage, freezing cuttings from the plant, or stocking the seeds (e.g. in a seedbank). For animals, this is done by the freezing of spe ...
ing, and veterinary, legal, and ethical concerns.
Members of the AArk are WAZA members and WAZA affiliates, members of regional or national
zoo associations
This is a partial list of zoo and aquaria associations:
Global
* Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (AMMPA)
* International Marine Animal Trainers Association (IMATA)
* Species 360 (formerly International Species Information Syst ...
,
Species360
Species360 (formerly International Species Information System or ISIS) founded in 1974, is an international non-profit organization that maintains an online database of wild animals under human care. , the organization serves more than 1,000 zoo ...
, AArk approved private partners and AArk approved museums, universities and wildlife agencies.
Although action to save critical species from immediate
extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
will be to send them to facilities with space and expertise, the goal is to enable the range countries currently lacking facilities and expertise to care for their own species. This will allow outside experts to free up their time and space to begin the process anew with other species in other regions of the world.
See also
*
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault ( no, Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure backup facility for the world's crop diversity on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. The Seed Vault provides long-term stora ...
*
National Ice Core Laboratory
The National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility (NSF-ICF), known as the National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) before 2018, is the primary repository for ice cores collected by the United States. The facility is located at the Denver Federal Cente ...
*
Frozen zoo
A frozen zoo is a storage facility in which genetic materials taken from animals (e.g. DNA, sperm, eggs, embryos and live tissue) are stored at very low temperatures (−196 °C) in tanks of liquid nitrogen. Material preserved in this way ca ...
*
Coral reef organizations Organizations which currently undertake coral reef and atoll restoration projects using simple methods of plant propagation:
Coral Cay* Counterpart International
* U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (CRTF)
National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI)* US Departmen ...
*
Rosetta Project
The Rosetta Project is a global collaboration of language specialists and native speakers working to develop a contemporary version of the historic Rosetta Stone to last from 2000 to 12,000 AD; it is run by the Long Now Foundation. Its goal is ...
References
External links
*
Animal conservation organizations
International organizations based in the United States
Herpetology organizations
Amphibian conservation organizations
{{int-org-stub