How to create a shared space for wildlife in our world through community Jeff Sailer, President & CEO, Toledo Zoo & Aquarium The Toledo Zoo & Aquarium recently reviewed and updated its mission statement to provide greater clarity to what we do. This new statement is as follows: We inspire our guests to join us in being advocates for wildlife and conserving the natural world by providing fun, awe-inspiring, and educational experiences. By joining us, others help build a movement that cares for animals and values wildlife’s shared place in our world. A key phrase in this updated statement is “to join us.” Zoos have changed greatly over the last several decades. What were once solely cultural institutions that provided wholesome family experiences, zoos now squarely play a role on the forefront of conservation education and wildlife preservation. But to preserve a place for wildlife on a crowded planet means that we have to build and nurture a community of like-minded individuals. We are asking others to join our community to create a shared place for wildlife in our world. Without an engaged community, we at the Toledo Zoo would be hard-pressed to achieve our mission. Engaging our community and providing activities that reinforce this community are paramount. In the early 1980’s the Zoo engaged with the people of Lucas County to build a community to support the very existence of the Zoo. Through tax levies, the community of Zoo supporters saved the Zoo from closing. The Zoo’s membership has grown out of this local community into a powerful constituency supporting the Zoo’s overall mission. Over time, the Zoo has worked to engage these incredibly loyal members and the Greater Toledo region in achieving an even greater purpose, not just saving the Zoo but saving wildlife too. Through early programs like Conservation Today the Zoo brought the resources of it community to bear on many local and global conservation issues. One early success was the work done with the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly, a native of the Toledo area. This little butterfly would have been lost were in not for the interest in it by our Zoo community and the pride that community took in this little insect. Now years later, the Zoo has reduced its reliance on the tax payer through a diversified portfolio of revenue streams and has built a Zoo experience that is more participatory and engaging to our community. As the Zoo has grown, we have put a lot of thought into how to achieve greater impact for wildlife. Recently the Wild Toledo Program came into being. This program includes restoring native prairie to vacant lots, head-starting hellbender salamanders to return to the wild, rearing lake sturgeon for release, supporting native pollinators through research and native plant production, etc. This program has been especially successful in engaging our community of supporters to purchase and plant native plants, to install patches of native prairie on their personal property, and to sponsor sturgeon and monarch butterflies among other activities. This community of like-minded people, joining with the Zoo is making great inroads to saving a place for wildlife in the Greater Toledo Region. Author and researcher, Douglas Tallamy makes the case in his most recent book, Nature’s Best Hope, that many species of wildlife and wild plants will only survive if ordinary people come together to provide for them in their own backyards through planting native plants. For the Zoo and Page 7 our mission to preserve wildlife, we embrace this thinking, but also understand that only through building a community of people all interested in joining us to save wildlife will we be successful. We are well on our way to doing just that. Won’t you join us?
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